


Dusk Fall

by RenkonNairu



Series: Tomorrow Knight [2]
Category: Batman Beyond, DCU (Comics), Red Robin (Comics), Superboy (Comics)
Genre: Alpha!Damian, Alpha!Jason, Alpha!Kon, Alpha!Terry, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Beta!Dick, Damian is Batman, F/M, Future Fic, Gen, M/M, Mar'i is happy and social like Dick, Omega Verse, Omega!Tim, Terry has no idea what's actually happening around him, Terry is 'the Chick', Tim's and Kon's kids I mean, as defined by TV Tropes, recycled plot from Batman Beyond, the kids names all end in '-el', too many Alphas
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-03
Updated: 2017-10-27
Packaged: 2019-01-08 18:29:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 21,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12259752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RenkonNairu/pseuds/RenkonNairu
Summary: -Omega Verse-Powers Technologies is making waves with both Wayne Industries and L-Corp. Tim and Kon's eldest son has been wearing the Cape for almost a year now and wants to take on bigger cases. Jason finds something interesting but he doesn't wanna be the one to tell the rest of the Bat Fam about it, so he makes it Tim's problem.





	1. Small World

“He gets out of Juvie today.” Red Hood explained. 

He and his companion stood on a rooftop overlooking the main pedestrian entrance of the Gotham Juvenile Correctional facility. If someone had told Hood a year ago that he would willingly call Red Robin in on one of his cases, he probably would have checked them over the head with the butt of his gun. 

Red Hood never liked the younger man from the moment he heard of him. The implication that he was so easily replaceable was bad enough, but then when they actually met and Hood was able to scent him properly, to learn that it wasn't a Beta or another Alpha that replaced him, but an Omega! That was just adding insult to the insult of being replaced, after the injury of dying. It wasn't bad enough that he was replaced, but replaced by an Omega! 

But, over the years, and being forced to tolerate one another -or worse, work together!- Hood had to begrudgingly admit that his replacement was more than just competent at the job -he was amazing at it. Of course, he would have to be for a stubborn and overprotective Alpha like Bruce to take him on as a Robin. Plus, he wasn't as touchy-feely as Nightwing, or bad tempered and snotty as Damian. Hood would never admit it -especially not to the man's face!- but he actually liked working with the replacement more than the other Robins. Not by, like, a lot. But enough. 

Also, Red Robin knew the importance of discretion and how to keep his stupid Omega mouth shut!

That was why Red Hood called him to assist on this case -actually, to take over this case, but Hood wasn't about to come out and say that. 

Some time ago, when Hood was just doing a routine bust on a routine breaking and entering and attempted theft, he got a whiff of a scent he did not expect. At first, he thought it was Damian under cover -because it was the scent of an Alpha that smelled similar enough to Bruce to be the old man's offspring. But it wasn't Damian that he caught up with. He was about a decade too young for one. Damian might still be a moody ass, but he hadn't been a teenaged moody ass in years! The kid that Red Hood caught up with was just a kid, still in his teens, a young Alpha out to prove himself in all the wrong ways. That by itself was nothing new for Gotham, it was full of moody brats of all casts out to make names for themselves. 

But this one smelled like Bruce. 

Another bastard from a villainess mother maybe?

Hood took a DNA sample and left the boy for the cops. He did his own testing, not wanting to alarm anyone else in the family prematurely. The kid would be in juvie for a bit anyway. He wasn't going anywhere. But when the DNA samples matched, Hood was forced to realize that he couldn't keep it from the rest of the family for long. Bruce had another wayward boy. 

But like fuck was Red Hood gonna be the one to tell the current Batman that he had another brother!

That sounded like a good job for the replacement.

Hence, bringing Red Robin in on the discovery and -hopefully- piquing his interest enough that he would want to take over completely. 

It seemed to be working so far. Omega scents fluctuated with their moods and no amount of training could hide that. While the visible half of his face might appear unaffected and neutral, Red Robin's scent practically hummed with curiosity. Fucking Omega! They were so easy to read. Seriously, what made Bruce think an Omega was a good Robin?

The pedestrian door of the facility opened and a sullen looking teenager swaggered out wearing the same black teeshirt and jeans and brown jacket Hood had caught him in. He carried an impersonal, holding issued 'Personal Effects' bag that contained everything that was found on him when he was picked up. Dark haired -like all Bats were- it was too far for them to see his eyes, but Hood remembered them being blue, too. Blue like Bruce's. High cheekbones and a square jaw. 

Red Robin's scent spiked just before he spoke. “He looks more like Bruce than Damian!”

“He's not a clone.” Red Hood repeated. “I checked. Naturally born from a parent's body and everything. Mary McGinnis. Omega. She's an astronomer over at Astro-Tech, and -as far as I can tell- has never crossed paths with either Bruce Wayne or the original Batman in her life.”

“How'd she manage to get pregnant then?” Red Robin asked. Skepticism was coloring his voice, but his scent shifted back to interest. Hood had brought him a mystery. A complicated mystery from the sound of it, and that was something he just didn't get enough of living in Metropolis with his mate. The Omega was interested, maybe even a little excited. 

Hood shifted uncomfortably. He barely tolerated Red Robin on a personal level, but as an Alpha, the scent of an excited Omega tended to have a strong affect on him. “You're an Omega. Don't you have any insights.”

Not only was Red Robin an Omega, but he was a sex-assigned male Omega whom managed to get pregnant. 

The corner's of the younger man's mouth turned down in an unamused frown. He didn't really like Red Hood on a personal level much either, and being an Omega doing a job traditionally viewed as an Alpha's or Beta's job, he had no patience for snide comments about his cast. “Generally, you need to have sex to get pregnant.”

A car pulled up in front of the young Alpha who looked and smelled so much like Bruce. An older man got out of the car. He had thinning brown hair, a long face, and square glasses. He didn't look a thing like their subject. But, judging by their body language, they were very familiar. 

“That's Warren McGinnis, Mary's ex-husband. A Beta, works as a researcher over at Powers Technologies, and -as far as anyone else knows- Terry's father.” Hood continued his narrative. 

“A Beta and an Omega trying to raise an Alpha.” Red Robin shook his head. 

It was difficult raising an offspring from a cast that was not your own. Red Robin was an Omega raised by two Beta parents. They didn't know how to relate to their son, so they left him in the care of an Omega au pair while they spent most of his young life traveling. Luckily for the Drakes, Omegas generally tended to be calm and temperant. So, Red Robin took his parents' neglect and channeled it into pursuits that eventually lead him to becoming one of Batman's Robins. Alphas on the other hand, were aggressive and excitable. Always trying to assert their dominance. Easily frustrated and quick to anger, with a predisposition for violence. They were difficult children to manage without another Alpha parent in the house to keep them in line. 

This was evidenced by the moment Warren McGinnis got out of his car to greet his son, the boy almost immediately responded with aggression. Shouting at the older male with some choice four letter words that Red Robin would never tolerate coming out of his own children's mouths. 

“He needs watching.” Red Hood finally concluded. 

Red Robin nodded, silently agreeing. His scent rumbled on the air currents between them -pensive. No doubt he was composing lists of arrangements that needed to be made to put the boy under surveillance, questions that needed answering, every possible thing that could go wrong, a timeline for when they should finally break it to Damian that he wasn't an only child anymore, and a list of every possible outcome that conversation could have. As much as Red Hood didn't like Red Robin on a personal level, he had to admit that the Omega was the most analytical and methodical of all the Bats. 

“I assume he attends school.” Red Robin asserted. 

“Hamilton High.” Hood nodded. “Public school. But pretty upscale. Ya know Sam Cunningham? He's a snobby art collector -out bid your father-in-law for an original Millet last year- his daughter goes there.”

“So it wouldn't be all that strange for a Luthor kid to be sent there.” The Omega concluded. 

Red Hood stared at the younger man, blinking at him from behind the face plate of his helmet. “I know you think your kids are brilliant or whatever, but even I know your Alpha brat isn't in high school yet.”

“No.” Red Robin agreed. “My eldest is closer to Terry's age, and it might do him some good to get out of Metropolis, connect with his Gotham roots.”

Once again, Red Hood found himself blinking at the younger man from behind his mask. “Isn't your oldest an Omega like you? And you want to put him as your man-on-the-ground surveilling an Alpha. Wow. You must really want that kid to follow in your foot steps, right down to the getting pregnant at sixteen part.”

“Super Robin attends school with Alphas every day and we have never had a problem.” Red Robin growled. The scent of frustration, insult, and... shame? Rolling off him in waves. His eyes narrowed behind the whited out lenses of his mask. “Do you have a better plan? Do you even have a plan?”

“I was just gonna corner him in an ally alone one night and threaten him to stay out of trouble or else.” Hood shrugged. That was the general Alpha approach to keeping younger ones in line. “He's not my kid. I don't owe him anything.” 

But he did owe Bruce. A lot. So, since this kid was somehow connected to the late Batman, he did feel some sort of responsibility. At least enough responsibility to bring his existence to the attention of someone who would care a lot more and had the type of obsessive personality that would ensure that the kid was somehow taken care of. 

Red Robin shook his head. “You can't be left in charge of anything. I bet you can't even take care of a house plant.” He muttered. Yes! The plan was working. Terry McGinnis was the Omega's problem now. “I'll take care of the kid. You just stay out of my way and don't run and tell Damian until I actually know what's going on here.”

“Oh, yeah. I was just about to drop in on the little Demon Spawn and tell him about this. T'ch.” Red Hood scoffed, he reached into his jacket and pulled out a grappling gun. 

Rolling his eyes Red Robin turned his attention back to Terry and Warren McGinnis. Let Hood foist this onto him and run. The hot-headed Alpha wasn't suited to this kind of delicate work anyway. It was better if Red Robin took it over from him anyway. Observation and surveillance was how he became a Robin in the first place. Trailing targets. Surveillance photography. Behavioral observation. Quiet and discreet investigation. Taking ones time to come to the correct conclusions. Those were Red Robin's strengths. Those were Omega strengths. An impatient and angry Alpha like Hood would just get in his way. 

…

Superman watched as Super Robin swabbed the charred edges of the deep storage cabinet where its high-pressure seal had been blown off. Superman generally tried to stay out of L-Corp misadventures. Even if Lex was getting back into his bad habits ('bad habits' being a gross understatement), by this point in his life, Superman owed the billionaire tycoon too much to get in his way. 

He was the only one to step up and really help Kon and Tim out fifteen years ago when they found themselves pregnant, unprepared, and clueless. 

Out of all of Kon's less than perfect parental figures, Lex was the one with the best resources to care for an under aged Omega carrying an unplanned cross-species hybrid with unknown complications. Lex accepted Tim into his protection because it would bring Kon under his influence. (And it worked, Lex and Kon actually had something that could be called a 'father-son relationship'.) While Kon was busy badgering Clark to teach him more about how kryptonian Alphas and Omegas differed from Earthlings, still maintain his work with the Titans, figure his own shit out when it came to suddenly having a weird relationship with his sort of Dad, Lex Luthor, and the looming prospect of becoming a Dad himself. Lex was with Tim taking care of the pregnant Omega and -after he was born- Daniel too. 

So, the still young Superman was understandably conflicted whenever Lex came up as a person of interest in any of his or Tim's investigations. But when a case started at Lex's company? Oh, boy. The Superman had even more mixed feelings about that! 

Super Robin applied a solution to the swab and watched it change color, telling him exactly what kind of chemical explosive was used to bust the cabinet open. The Superman sighed. Sometimes his son could be so much like Red Robin it was uncanny. Tim had trained him to learn everything he possibly could about a case. Not just motive, suspects, means, and opportunities. But what tools suspects used, where they came from, their manufacturers or chemical make ups. Tim would say that know what their makeups and who might have access to such things would help discover the culprit (or culprits) and leave less room for reasonable doubt. 

Deciding it was best to leave it son to it, Superman focused his attention on Lex. “Can we talk in your office?”

“Of course.” Lex nodded. 

Without taking his eyes off his work or even lifting his head, Super Robin added, “I'll need a copy of his statement when you're done.”

Superman nodded, and the two Alpha's left the younger Omega to his work. They retreated into a private elevator and rode it up to the top of the building. The doors opened up again on the floor devoted almost entirely to Lex's office. Lex's secretary was absent, it was after hours, after all. Mercy sat at the desk instead, cleaning the barrel of a gun. She looked up when the two males exited the elevator. Noted that it was her employer and his son and went back to weapons. 

Lex shut the door to his office and pored two classes of brandy from his mini bar. “Danny seems very focused down there.”

Superman remained tactfully silent. He had his own feelings about his under-powered, quarter-kryptonian, Omega child joining him and Red Robin on investigation. Sure, Tim was also under-powered (no powers at all, actually), but Tim was trained by the mother fucking Batman! The original Batman. He didn't need powers. Sure, Tim had trained their son himself to the best of his abilities, but Tim was no Goddamn Batman. Sure, Tim was also an Omega and Kon's Alpha instincts prompted him to protect the other male -sometime to over protect the other male- but Tim was not Kon's offspring. The moment Kon held Daniel for the first time, scented the newborn, and imprinted on him, the demi-kryptonian knew that he would be worrying about the boy for the rest of his life. 

“I can't believe you're taking Tim's side and actually encouraging him!” Superman grumbled. 

“I'm sure I don't know what you mean.” Lex sipped his brandy, smiling over the lip of the glass. It was Lex that had designed and fabricated Super Robin's uniform. It was a new material L-Corp was experimenting with based off the kryptonian fabric of the original Superman's uniform. As light, form-fitting and maneuverable as spandex, but almost as indestructible as fibers from Krypton. It was as much armor as it was a second skin. Lex might acknowledge his grandson's apparently genetic drive to to be a do-gooding boy scout, but he had his own Alpha instincts that drove him to protect the Omegas of his family in his own way. 

The demi-kryptonian sighed, deciding it was best not to push the issue. He'd already fought and lost. He should learn to move on. Instead, the Superman decided to tackle another issue. “Tim would never let me hear the end of it if I didn't ask if you had anything to do with the theft.”

Lex only raised an amused eyebrow. “Generally, one does not steal from one's self.”

“No.” Kon agreed. “But you've pulled Machiavellian crap like that before. And I know from personal experience just how much you enjoy playing head-games. So I have to ask.”

“I can assure you, I did not.”

Kon continued to stare at his sort-of-father for a moment or two longer. Listening to the older Alpha's heart beat, gauging his breathing, inhaling his scent. Searching for any signs of deception. There were none. 

“I can suggest a suspect if you like.” Lex offered after the silence dragged on long enough. 

“Anything to sew 'reasonable doubt', am I right.”

“Hn.” The older man took another sip of his brandy. “I'm sure all of Danny's lovely little CSI efforts will show that the explosive used was military grade, and that the charge was shaped so that only the lock would be affected by the blast. Very sophisticated tools considering how violent the method itself was. Violence and sophistication don't usually go hand in hand.” 

“I can name a handful of people that would passionately disagree with you.” Superman crossed his arms over his chest. 

“As can I.” Lex nodded. “One of them in particular being a man named Mr. Fixx.”

“Never heard of him.” The demi-kryptonian was not impressed. 

The older man only shrugged. “I wouldn't expect you to. He's not exactly a member of your community. But he is a member of mine -or, rather, Mercy's. He works as personal assistant and hatchetman for that irritating little upstart Derek Powers.” 

“Powers Technologies' Derek Powers?” Kon had to clarify. 

“The same.” Nodded Lex. 

Tim hated that guy. Kon could not even begin to list all the times they had laid in bed with their pillow talk consisting of how much Tim disliked the up and coming businessman and his company. How he was a blight on Gotham and had done everything short of trying to buy Wayne Enterprises out from Damian. 'Wayne-Powers'. Yeesh! That was a scary thought. No. Wayne Enterprises belonged to Batman. Without Wayne Enterprises there was no Batman. As much as Kon didn't really like the little Demon spawn on a personal level, he was still Batman, and Gotham needed a Batman. 

Well, Powers being involved in the theft certainly would make Tim more willing to believe that his father-in-law wasn't starting some new convoluted and circuitous scheme to take over the world. 

“Do I dare even ask what was supposed to be locked up in there?” Asked the Superman. “What did they take?”

“A chemical mutagen called DI-79.” Answered the older Alpha. “Have you heard of it?”

Superman had not. 

So, Lex explained. “It was something I had started development on back in the early days of my power-struggles with your predecessor. A bit of chemical warfare. It was designed to break down living organic mater. Dissolve a person in their own skin.”

Kon visually cringed at the idea, that sounded uncomfortably like the 'normal person' version of clone degradation. Not pleasant. 

“I never actually got around to using it, though.” The old man sighed. “I never quite figured out a delivery system with minimal collateral damage.” 

“Minimal?”

“Acceptable.” 

“Ah.” That sounded much more like the old Lex he knew. 

Superman swirled the grass of brandy his father had offered him. He hadn't drunk any of it -and he wasn't going to. Conner Luthor might indulge in a night cap every now and again, but Superman did not. He stared at his distorted reflection in the amber liquid and tried to think of any other questions Red Robin might ask. Tim was always better at this part of a case than he was. Kon's skill set was better suited for problems that could be solved with brawn, not brains. 

“What makes you so sure it's really Powers behind this?” He finally decided that might be a good question to ask. It seemed like the sort of thing Tim might want to know. 

“He offered to buy the formula off me.” Lex supplied casually. Almost matter of factly. As if it didn't really matter than another billionaire with megalomaniacal tendency and -possibly- eccentric genius was interested in acquiring a weapon so terrible even Lex mother fucking Luthor didn't wanna actually use it. “I refused to sell.”

“And he didn't wanna take 'no' for an answer apparently.” Superman finished for him. 

“So it would seem.” Nodded the older man. “Since Powers is based in Gotham, I don't suppose my charming son-in-law would mind looking into this for me?”

Tim was in Gotham right now actually. Although, today's visit not withstanding, he didn't visit his old hometown much since Bruce wasn't around anymore. Still it was his original stomping ground. “I'll ask him.”

“Please do.”

…

Tim got back to Metropolis late. Like, really late. So late it was actually early. 

He found his eldest son passed out asleep on the living room couch. His L-Pad threatening to slip from the sleep-loosened grip. Daniel had fallen asleep reading off it. Tim shook his head. “And your father didn't think to carry you to bed.”

Grabbing a throw blanket off an armchair, he draped it over the sleeping boy then went to look in on his other two children. Ariel had added a new photo to the pin board over his desk. A still life of what looked like a close zoom of condensation on a can of Zesti. He had over-saturated the image and developed it in grayscale. It looked pretty good. Tim was sure the boy would be excitedly trying to show it to him and demand his approval in the morning. Gabriel had taken a glass of milk to bed again. It sat only half-drunk on his bedside table, turning rancid. With a sigh, Tim crossed the room and silently retrieved it before it filled the apartment with its rank odor. 

Honestly, this was something Kon should check for. There was no reason for Tim to come back from out of town and have to clean up sour milk when the demi-kryptonian was perfectly capable to dealing with it himself. Of course, goodness forbid the great Superman ever have to wash a dish! 

It was as Tim was placing the freshly washed glass in the dish drainer that Superman drifted in through the balcony doors. 

Tim caught his scent on the air before he felt strong arms encircle his waist, pulling his back flush against a chiseled torso with muscles rippling under the suit. Upon smelling that firm Alpha scent and feeling the heat of the other man's body against his -warm like mother fucking sunlight- Tim instantly forgot to be annoyed with him for not washing a single, lone, solitary dish. 

“I didn't expect you back until tomorrow.” Kon purred in his ear. He rubbed his chin over the top of his mate's head, marking him with his potent Alpha scent. 

“It is tomorrow.” Tim rumbled back, leaning backwards into that body and that warm embrace. He felt his body's reaction to Kon's, the light flutterings of arousal start in his core and knew his pheromones were already communicating it to his Alpha. 

“I didn't expect you back until tomorrow-tomorrow.” Amended the demi-kryptonian with his standard level of eloquence. He lowered his face to Tim's neck and inhaled that delicious Omega scent, spiced with the beginnings of arousal. He rubbed his chin there too, adding another scent mark. 

“It was just a short little recon thing.” The Omega turned around in his mate's arms burring his face in the front of that ridiculous red S to inhale a full and deep breath of that strong and sometimes overpowering hybrid Alpha scent. Normal full-earthling Alphas did not smell like Kon. He rubbed his chin on that stupid big S, giving Kon a scent mark of his own. “Jason found something interesting and wanted to show me.”

Tim felt more than heard the rumble of a growl rolling up from his mate's chest and couldn't help the small smile when he detected the faintest hints of jealousy in his scent. Tim had been hanging out in Gotham, alone with another Alpha -and Jason didn't really call Tim to socialize. They were not friends. The Red Hood summoning Red Robin from Metropolis just 'to show him something interesting' was a little suspicious. Even Tim agreed. To put his mate at ease, he stretched up on the tips of his toes to press his lips to the demi-kryptonian's. 

“I would have much rather stayed home with you.” He muttered, breath hot on the demi-kryptonian's lower lip. “Hm... you know what I really want right now...?”

It was simply adorable how Kon's breath hitched and his scent spiked with excitement and another layer of arousal at that simple -yet suggestive- question. “Is it the same thing I want right now?”

“I want...” Tim began slowly “...you... to pick Dan up for me and carry him to his own bed! Seriously, Kon. He's gonna develop back problems if you keep letting him sleep on the couch like that.” Tim politely decided not to mention that the groan of disappointment his mate released was really more of a whimpering whine. “We take care of our children first, Kon. Then we have 'us' time.”

“You're right, of course.” 

Kon exited the kitchen and lifted his eldest child up into his arms. The boy groaned in his sleep but did not wake up, instead he curled deeper in his father's arms, the Omega instinctually seeking the safety of that parental Alpha scent. The demi-kryptonian carried the boy to his bedroom, using his TTK to pull back the blankets, Kon laid his son down and pulled the covers back up to his chin. Tucking his son in for the morning. 

That done, Kon would have hoped to find Tim in some stage of undress in their bedroom. But his mate was still in the living room, overriding the lock screen on Dan's L-Pad. He scrolled through what Dan was studying before he fell asleep. Crime scene photos. Tim looked up at his mate. “Was there a break in at L-Corp?”

“Lex already knows who's behind it.” Kon assured him. 

Tim offered a sardonic smile. “I'm sure he offered you a very convincing red herring.” 

There was more humor than actual skepticism or accusation in his voice. While Tim did not trust that Lex's transformation into the altruistic philanthropist he previously only pretended to be was as true and complete as he wanted Kon to believe, Tim did trust that Lex kept the safety of his grandchildren at heart. The old man would never admit it out loud, but Tim knew he imprinted on Dan when he was born -probably imprinted on all three of his children, actually. Lex would not allow Dan to investigate one of his schemes. Lex's schemes had a tendency to involve elements detrimental to a kryptonian's health. He would not risk Dan getting involved. So, if he was letting Super Robin investigate, then the tycoon was not the architect. For once, strange things afoot at L-Corp might not actually have anything to do with Lex Luthor at all. 

Tim swiped back to the picture Dan had been examining before he fell asleep and turned off the screen. He set it down on the coffee table and stretched -yawning. “And who's really working the case, you? Or are you finally letting Dan do some actual work when I'm not around to make you.”

Kon remained tactfully silent. His mate knew his feelings about allowing their underpowered Omega child to involve himself in dangerous -sometimes violently so- vigilante work. Tim had nearly died countless time. Hell! Kon did die! And he was both an absurdly over-powered meta, and an Alpha. If he could be beaten to death by just one single opponent, then what kind of cruel fate was in store for their first born?

“That's what I thought.” Tim groaned, padding silently to their bedroom. 

“Actually, Lex was kinda hoping you'd take the case.” Kon followed his mate to the bedroom, and watched with appreciation as his Tim stripped off the burgundy button down shirt he was wearing. 

Opening the closet, he hung his barely used shirt on a hanger before kicking his shoes off. His attention was focussed on his belt buckle when he replied. “Unfortunately for Lex, I just took a case from Red Hood and its all the way in Gotham. So, if this is something that requires an actual investigator, not just an over-powered meta who's good at punching, you'll have to let Dan take the lead.”

He slipped his pants off, knowing that the simple and mundane action would flood the bedroom with another wave of his Omega scent and partial arousal. Tim looked up at his mate and noted with some mild disappointment that Kon was still fully dressed. Tim rolled his eyes and crawled into bed. 

The demi-kryptonian sniffed the air. 

Tim propped an elbow on his knee as he watched the Superman strip out of his uniform. His TTK making it seem as if that tight black unitard just slithered off his body of its own accord. Kon peeled off his underwear too, just for good measure and crawled into bed naked, cuddling up close, flushing Tim tight against his body. Tim ran a hand over Kon's perfectly chiseled pecks absentmindedly. 

“Ya know...” The demi-kryptonian muttered into the top of his mate's head. “You could still do that thing for Jason and work the case for Lex. The guy who took his stuff is supposed to work for Derek Powers.” 

Tim pulled away just enough to blink at his mate. The mention of Power's name shutting down whatever arousal he had. “Powers!”

Sure, he didn't like Derek Powers on a professional level. The man was cut-throat in the business world. Laying off local workers, moving production to third-world countries to cut costs, challenging larger economic titans like Ferris Aerospace, Queen Industries, or Wayne Enterprises. Hell! Even L-Corp had gone up against Powers Technologies! That was a surreal venture. Tim had never actually agreed with his father-in-law at every turn of a venture before -not until Powers became their rival vying to buyout the failing Ace Chemicals. When Lex Luthor agrees that someone is a blight on the world, then that person is a mother fucking blight! 

And now he had upped his game to flat out stealing from the competition. “What was it that was stolen?”

Kon visibly cringed. They tried not to talk about his father's less than admirable past these days. Lex was a changed man, and he had done so much for the both of them and their children. Kon didn't like to feel ungrateful. “A chemical weapon he designed years ago but never used.” 

If it was one of Lex's weapons -especially from his early days when he was undiagnosed but definitely insane and hell bent on killing an unkillable, god-like, super alien- then Tim definitely did not want it in his old town! He might not live in Gotham anymore, but Gotham was where he was from. It was where he became Robin. It was where his father died. It was the place that made him who he was. He did not much like the idea of dangerous chemical weapons being introduced to her streets. He would already be in town running surveillance on Jason's little discovery. He could look into Powers company too. Have Dan run the op on Terry McGinnis while he focussed on Powers. 

“I'll take the case.” He said. 

“What, really?” Apparently, Kon hadn't actually believed he would. After all, it was originally Lex who was asking. 

“Yes.” Tim nodded. “But I'll be splitting my focus between two operations, so I'll need an assistant. Dan comes with me.”

Tim felt his mate's muscles tense before he caught the spike of concern in the man's scent. “You wanna take Dan to Gotham!”

“Well, damn. You don't have to make it sound so awful.” Tim scoffed. 

This comment did nothing to sooth the Alpha's concern. Academically, Tim knew his mate couldn't help it. It was just something written into his DNA -on both sides. It didn't matter if you were from Earth, or Krypton, or any combination there of. An Alpha's instinct was to care for the Omegas in their life -to protect them. Gotham was one of the most dangerous cities on the continent -possibly in the world- and Kon did not want either his Omega mate to take his Omega offspring there. Tim, he knew, could take care of himself. Dan, on the other hand, had only ever known the bright and sunny city of Metropolis and the shelter of being raised as the grandson of one of its most prominent citizens. 

Tim crawled on top of his mate, straddling the larger male's thighs. “Before you object, let me just warn you: I will win this disagreement.” Tim always won. “So we might as well skip the debate and move right on to the make-up sex.”

And tomorrow Tim would begin arrangements to explain a high profile citizen like Daniel Jack Luthor transferring from his snooty private school in Metropolis to a public school in Gotham. 

Kon's chest rumbled with something that wasn't quite a growl. Tim would never get over all the interesting sounds his demi-kryptonian body could produce. The Omega slid his thighs up his mate's narrow hips, knowing that the shift in his scent was doing far more than the feeling of skin sliding against skin. 

“You know I'm helpless when you do that...” Kon muttered, in haling deeply. Tim's scent was spiced with arousal again and it was intoxicating. If the demi-kryptonian didn't know any better, he would be totally willing to believe that Tim could turn it on and off like a switch. Control his scent at will and control him with it. But that was not a thing Omegas could do. Only Betas could control their scents at will, and even then, not very well. 

“And you should also know by now that I always win.” Tim leaned down to scrape his teeth over his mate's neck. Traveling down to the collar bone, then the chest, then the abs. He enjoyed how easily Kon simultaneously melted and hardened beneath him. Was completely undone by Tim's pheromones alone. They hadn't even started coupling yet. “So there's no point in fighting me.”

The demi-kryptonian growled low in his throat, but he didn't actually protest. Instead he grabbed Tim by the hips and flipped them over so that he was on top. Tim suddenly found himself quite firmly pinned beneath a deliciously warm slice of kryptonian muscle. “You will look out for Dan while he's in Gotham.”

That wasn't a question. “Of course.”

“Then I'll try to be okay with it.” And he leaned down, mashing his lips against his mate's in a demanding kiss. Typical Alpha. So demanding. As if Tim wasn't about to give him what he wanted anyway.


	2. Non-Stop

The morning sun rising over the bay cast a golden glow over the water and reflected off the glass of the surrounding buildings. It was an amazing play of light. Ariel took several shots both with his phone, and his real camera. He originally came out onto the balcony in the hopes that the street noise would help drown out the sounds of very adult activities taking place in his parents' bedroom. Sometimes, super-hearing was great. Other times it really, really, really, really sucked. 

Luckily, the early morning traffic from thirty stories below successfully masked his parents' moaning. It didn't drown it out completely, but it made things easier to ignore. 

Besides, it was a great opportunity take some photos of sights he usually tended to take for granted or ignore. Like how the balcony railing cast diagonal shadows across the deck. Ariel knelt down to get a better angle and took a couple shots with both his phone and his camera. 

Daniel joined him on the balcony. A glass of orange juice in one hand, a pop tart in the other. He was still wearing his Super Robin uniform -sans the cape and mask- and Ariel knew his older brother must have slept in his costume again. 

“Sometimes I wonder if they want us to hear them.” He groaned. 

He set his glass of juice down on a patio table and the sunlight caught on a bead of condensation. Ariel crept close to it, keeping his perspective just below the table's surface. He snapped a couple of perspective shots with his phone, then reached for his camera, but the drop of condensation that was his subject slipped. Trickling down the side of the glass. The moment was gone. He groaned in disappointment. 

Then, finally looked up to acknowledge his brother. “I came out here because horns and sirens are a lot less awkward to listen to.” A pause. He scrolled through the new images on his phone. “You shouldn't sleep in your uniform, ya know.”

“Ari, you're younger than me. Stop trying to be a second Pa.” Daniel snapped. One demi-kryptonian Alpha trying to smother him all the time was enough. 

The younger boy only shrugged. He was an Alpha and didn't generally take orders well. It was also impossible for him to ignore the base and primal drive to care for the Omegas in his life. It was something that was written into his DNA -on all sides. But he did relent for the moment, at least. Setting his phone down, Ariel picked his camera back up and swapped the lens out for something with a higher zoom. Hoping to capture the weave of the fibers in their patio chairs. 

From the kitchen they heard the sounds of a glass being set on the counter, the refrigerator opening and closing, liquid being pored into said glass, the refrigerator being opened and closed again. Both Daniel and Ariel poked their heads back in from the balcony to see who was up. Mom and Pa were still bumping and moaning, so it had to be Gabriel. 

Sure enough, the youngest boy was sitting at the kitchen island, drinking a glass of milk, reading something off his L-Pad, a pair of over-sized headphones covering both ears. Calm and unaffected. As if he didn't even hear Mom and Pa's mating sounds at all. He was already dressed in his school uniform, the blazer draped over his backpack which sat on a vacant bar stool. Seeing motion out of the corner of his eye, Gabriel looked up at his brothers watching him from the balcony. 

“Noise canceling headphones.” He called, pointing to the over-sized caps on his ears, and speaking louder than was necessary. “Sixty bucks at the L-Store. Free if you ask Grandpa nicely. Invest.”

He went back to reading off his L-Pad and drinking his milk. 

Mom and Pa's sounds seemed to reach a climax and both Daniel and Ariel cringed noticeably, putting their hands over their ears in an attempt to muffle the sounds. The Omega and Alpha avoided eye-contact, looking anywhere but at each other. Was that what they were going to sound like with their respective partners once they were old enough and found counterparts they wanted to mate with? They tried not to think about it. It was uncomfortable and a little gross. 

Gabriel lifted one of his headphone ear muffs. Noted that it was finally quiet in the apartment and took them off. “Do you think they knotted?”

Daniel did a spit-take in his orange juice. “You're eight!”

“Gross, man.” Ariel shook his head. “You're gross. Those are our parents.”

The youngest boy only shrugged and went back to reading his very age-inappropriate fictions on his L-Pad. “I suppose if Mom comes out in the next five minutes and starts getting on our cases to get ready for school, it means they didn't.”

No sooner had he said this, than Ariel's phone and Gabriel's L-Pad pinged with text message alerts. Daniel heard his own phone chime with a text alert, but it was still in his bedroom. So he leaned over Ariel's shoulder to read the message. 

'Finish breakfast and get ready for school.' 

The message came from Mom's phone. Guess he wasn't coming out of the bedroom any time soon. 

With a sigh, Gabriel drained the last of his milk and pulled the blazer of his school uniform on. Throwing his backpack over his shoulder he crossed the space to the open balcony. Then his L-Pad pinged with another text. 

'And no flying!'

Daniel might not be able to fly, but Ariel and Gabriel could. But having flying children zooming through the city wearing the uniform of the same private elevator school that all three of the Drake-Luthor children attended was a sure fire way to blow the whole family's secret identities. Tim wasn't having any of it. 

Ariel and Daniel retreated back to their rooms to quickly pull on their own school uniforms. Daniel peeled off the Super Robin suit and pulled on his gray slacks with a crease ironed into them. It was as he was buttoning up his shirt that his phone buzzed again. This time it wasn't a group text sent to all his brothers, it was just for Daniel. 

'Stay home today.'

He picked up the phone, confused by the message and tapped out a fast reply. 

'Trouble?'

The next message was a bit delayed. He could hear Mom from the other room reprimanding Pa to 'cut it out, if you keep doing that we'll never get untied, now let me type'.

'No. Just an assignment. Give me half an hour, we'll talk in person.'

Daniel escorted his younger siblings down to the chauffeur. Mercy was taking them to school today. That wasn't completely out of the ordinary, but after the previous night's break in at L-Corp, Daniel would have though she'd be sticking close to his grandfather. As a general rule, Betas tended to be loyal to their Alphas, but Mercy sometimes took her loyalty to the point of fanaticism. Their eyes met as she held the door open for the other two and gave him just the barest of nods. She understood why he might not be going to school with his brothers today. He was on a case, and that case was for her Alpha. 

Daniel headed back upstairs to his family's penthouse apartment. 

The half hour Mom asked for turned out to be a whole hour. He staggered out of the bedroom, reeking of sex, his body covered fresh scent marks, massaging his lower back, and muttering some disparaging comments about kryptonian stamina. Tim had things he needed to get done today. Didn't Kon and his stupid, perfect, Alpha body understand that? Not for the first time that morning, Daniel wished his hearing wasn't quite so good. He heard the shower running and decided the 'half' hour would actually be an hour and a half. 

Finally, Mom emerged from the bathroom, smelling of shampoo and cleanser, wearing a red house robe, toweling his hair dry.

“So, I guess you already know Grandpa was robbed last night.” Daniel reached for his L-Pad to pull up all the preliminary data he'd already collected from the scene. 

“Your father says there's already a suspect.” Mom turned on the coffee maker and pulled a mug down out of a cabinet. “I'm going to see your grandfather today about coming up with a pretext to send me to Gotham so Red Robin can look into it.” A pause as he glared at the coffee maker for not magically producing an instant result. “I'd like you to come with me.”

“To Gotham?” Daniel blinked. He'd only ever been to Gotham a handful of times. As a child. To meet the rest of his mother's siblings. Stephanie, Barbera, Cass, Dick, and Mar'i cuddled and cooed him relentlessly, while Damian hung back quiet and aloof. But he never actually got to see much beyond Wayne Manor. Certainly he never got to prowl the streets with the rest of the family. Some stupid rule about no metas alowed to operate in the city. Daniel and Pa stayed at the manor and raided the kitchen.

Mom nodded. Then the coffee maker pinged that it was ready and he got up to fill his mug, drinking it still hot and black. “I took another case -literally just before I heard about L-Corp- and I'd like it if you assisted on it.”

“So we'll be working two cases at once?” That was exciting! Daniel knew that was something Mom did a lot and he was sure that he'd have to multi-task and manage multiple investigations at once too -eventually. But he was at this for a little short of a year and Mom hadn't allowed him to work two cases at the same time yet. Daniel knew his scent must be practically radiating his excitement, even before Mom frowned. 

“I will be working the L-Corp theft for your grandfather.” He clarified. “You will be running a surveillance and observation op on a civilian for me.”

He took another long sip from his coffee. Stood. Refilled it. Drank more. 

Daniel's excited mood deflated quickly. He wouldn't be getting to work multiple cases. He would still only be working one case, and from the sound of it, the less important, less difficult, less dangerous case. That wasn't usually something Mom did. That was a Pa thing. Pa never even wanted him in a Cape in the first place. Mom had overruled him and Daniel had been Super Robin for almost a year now. But whenever Mom wasn't around, Pa was still delegating the smaller, easier -safer- tasks to him. Crowd control. Reconnaissance. Finger printing. Sometimes, Pa would cut him out of a case entirely. To spite being on the scene for just short of a year, Super Robin had seen surprisingly little of the actual job. 

And it was all because of Pa. 

This was probably Pa too, Daniel concluded as he watched his mother fill his coffee cup for a third time. Pa used their mating as an opportunity to convince Mom to cut him out of Grandpa's break-in case. 

“Did Pa put you up to this?” He growled, frustration coloring both his voice and his scent. 

“No, actually. Red Hood put me up to it. He has a very specific skill set and observing and monitoring a civilian discreetly is not one of them.” 

Daniel raised an eyebrow at that. Of all of the aunts and uncles he acquired from his mother's side of the family, Jason Todd was one of the ones he knew the least about. In fact, Daniel couldn't remember having ever actually met the black sheep of the Bat Family before. But he did know that Jason and his mother weren't friends and didn't exactly get along. For him to bring Red Robin in on a case... not just bring him in on it, but pass the case to him entirely! It had to be something big. Something important! 

“Who is this civilian?” 

With a small smile of satisfaction, Mom pulled Daniel's L-Pad to him and overrode a couple of parental controls that allowed him to connect the device to the PDA in his Red Robin suit. He pulled up the information Red Hood gave him. “His name's Terrance McGinnis. Alpha. Juvenile delinquent. Parents divorced. He just got out of-”

“He looks like Bruce Wayne.” Daniel pulled the L-Pad back to him, looking at the mug shot that was currently displayed on the screen. “I mean, he looks like some of the pictures of Bruce that I've seen. Not as old, obviously, but... my gosh! He looks more like Bruce than Damian. Who is he?”

“I don't know, and neither does Jason.” Mom admitted, pulling the pad back to him. “That's why we are running a surveillance operation. I can hack his school's security feeds, traffic cams on his rout to and from school, with a little creativity I might even be able to get some spyware in his home. But what I really need is to put a tail on him.” 

Daniel raised an eyebrow. “I'm pretty sure someone might notice if Super Robin disappears from Metropolis and reappears in Gotham always around a specific high school kid.” 

Mom took another long sip from his coffee. He really went through it fast. Standing, Tim set the coffee maker for a fresh batch. Then sat back down at the island. “But there wouldn't be anything suspicious about another student from his school hanging out with him.”

“Come again?” Daniel tilted his head and raised an eyebrow, not understanding. 

“I need you to get yourself expelled from school.” Mom explained. “So I can transfer you to Hamilton High in Gotham.” 

Daniel sputtered for a moment. Mom wanted him to get expelled from school, something that went on his permanent record, and transfer to a completely different school in a completely different town for a case. Academically, he knew that the job would affect his civilian life at some point. It just wasn't possible to live with two identities without one affecting the other. But this was different. This was actively changing his civilian identity -or at least a big aspect of his civilian life- for a single case. This McGinnis guy who looked uncannily like a young Bruce Wayne must be really, really important. 

“I donno...” A pause. “Does Hamilton High have a decent show choir?”

The coffee machine pinging that the second batch was ready and Mom stood back up to refill his coffee yet again. 

That was about the time Pa finally emerged from the bedroom, hair tousled and messy. Stinking of sex so strongly that Daniel had to cover his nose with the collar of his shirt. 

Pa placed his hand over Mom's mug. “How many of those have you had already?”

“Not enough.” Mom growled challengingly. “I have a lot of work to do today.”

“Tim...” Pa groaned back. “You're gonna give yourself a heart attack.”

It was a soft sort of pleading sound, almost begging Mom to go easy on the caffeine and stimulants. A stark contrast to the overpowering scent of command that was quickly filling the kitchen. It was a scent that prompted Omegas to offer their submission. Give in to their Alpha's command. Daniel felt himself lower his eyes before he was actually consciously aware of taking the action himself. 

But Mom seemed immune to that overpowering Alpha scent. He sniffed the air, snorted, sipped his fourth cup of coffee in blatant disregard for his mate's authority. “Stop doing that and go shower. You're making your son uncomfortable.”

“I am not!” Pa argued back. He turned to look at Daniel for support and saw the boy sitting with his shoulders hunched, eyes down, head turned. If his posture were any more submissive, he would have his head down on the counter with his neck exposed. Kon immediately shut up. “I, uh, yeah. Maybe I will shower.”

He left the kitchen. 

Tim turned on the fan over the stove to suck out the lingering Alpha pheromones. 

“It would be nice to get away from Pa and Ari, and their over-protectiveness. Be able to just breath for a bit.” Daniel commented. “How are you able to resist it when he fills the room like that?”

He was an Omega too. It was just instinctually programed into them to demure and off their submission to the Alpha of their pack. Be that a mate, a parent, or a mentor. Alphas commanded and protected, Omega obeyed and served. 

Mom only scoffed, finishing his coffee in triumph and refilling it for a fifth one. “Please. I grew up with Batman-” the original Batman “-no Alpha on Earth or Krypton will ever be as intimidating or over powering as he was. If I can defy Batman, I can do just about anything.”

Neither of them said it out loud, but by 'defy Batman', Tim meant slept with Superboy, and got pregnant at sixteen. 

“I'll take the case. If it'll get me out of Metropolis and away from Pa for a while, I can do surveillance on a single non-meta human.” Daniel pulled the L-Pad back to him and began scrolling through the rest of the information they had on McGinnis. “Wait. Hamilton High doesn't have uniforms?”

…

Tim waved off the brandy his father-in-law offered him. It wasn't even noon yet. It was way too early to be drinking. 

Instead, he sipped coffee from a paper cup (this would be his seventh cup of the day). The cafe in the L-Corp lobby made an excellent Turkish style. Thick and robust, and just oozing the caffeine that Tim's body craved. 

“Our Gotham office has been under-preforming for some time.” Lex was saying as he swirled his own glass of brandy. He leaned against his desk, hand resting next to a framed photo of L-Corp Tower from before they renovated the facade and changed the logo from Lex Corp to L-Corp. 

It was taken at an upward angle with the sun just peeking out from behind the building casting spears of light through the frame. No one would know it, but the photo was taken by Ariel, not long after Tim got him his camera. It was a gift for his seventh birthday and Tim still had to develop the films for him (he did not trust a seven-year-old with the chemicals, even if the boy could see better in the dark room than he could). But even at seven, Ariel had an excellent eye for composition (Tim tried not to brag, but his son was an artistic prodigy). The old Lex Corp Tower was a personal favorite of Lex's and Ariel gave it to him in leu of a father's day card. It really showed just how much the old man legitimately cared about his grandchildren to keep it on his desk where he could look at it every day. 

And it wasn't just Ariel. His talents and extracurriculars were rooted in the visual arts and easiest to display. But Lex also had one of Gabriel's debate team trophies, and pictures of Daniel with his show choir team (of course, he hadn't competed in show choir since he donned the Super Robin guise -he didn't have time for innocent competitions anymore). There was, of course, also the obligatory family photo of everyone. Lex, Tim, Kon, and all their children. Tim liked that picture the least. Kon was in his 'Conner Luthor' costume -and it was a costume, regardless of what anyone else said- with his ebony hair gelled back with colored hair gel that made his hair look a shade of red-head similar to what Lex's used to be before he lost his hair. Green tinted contact lenses in his eyes -no glasses anymore- and a black business suit. Seriously. Kon in a suit. It just wasn't right!

Tim raised his eyes from the desk and back up to his father-in-law. “Am I to assume that's gonna be my pretext for going to Gotham?”

“Well, it would be nice if you could also whip them back into shape.” Lex snorted. “But, yes, that is my pretext for sending you back to Gotham.” 

Lex's desk intercom crackled just before Mercy's voice announced, “Sorry to interrupt, but Dalton Academy is on line two for Mr. Drake. In regards to an incident involving Daniel.” 

“And that would be Dan's pretext for going to Gotham.” Tim stood. “I'll take the call in my office.”

“You're taking Danny with you?” Lex seemed alarmed. His Alpha scent shifting from baseline business neutral to a slightly more tame and easier to tolerate version of Kon's protective and agitated. That, right there, that was what made Tim so sure that Lex had imprinted on Daniel. Lex was almost as protective of him -and his brothers- as Kon was. 

Tim gave a casual shrug, as if it were not big deal. The easiest way for an Omega to diffuse an Alpha's moods was to remain calm. “He needs the experience.”

The corners of Lex's mouth turned down in a disapproving frown. But, unlike Kon, Lex wouldn't challenge him. He might have imprinted on Daniel, but Lex was intelligent enough to separate himself from the instincts of his cast and recognize that he was not actually the boy's parent. He might not approve, but he had not right to try and stop Tim. 

Besides, even if Lex did protest, Tim would ignore him. A Robin that had never been to Gotham was no Robin at all. 

…

“I can't believe you shoved Sebastian in a locker.” Tim snorted as he drove his son home after having to pick him up from the disciplinary principal's (different from the Headmaster) office. 

Daniel only shrugged. “Dalton has that no-tolerance policy when it comes to bullying. It seemed like the quickest way to get expelled. Besides-” he added “- dude had it coming ever since he thought he could use the Warblers as nothing more than back-up singers to try and seduce that traitor that left us for the McKinley High's New Directions.”

“Ah, yes, the infamous rivalry.” Tim smiled. Innocent rivalry between school teams was adorable. “We're gonna swing by home to pick up a few things, then we're gonna head straight to Gotham.”

“Not wasting any time, I see.” Daniel also smiled. 

“I think you're just a little too excited about this mission.” Tim tried to peer at his son without taking his eyes off the road. It didn't work. “Lets see if you still feel that way once we actually get to Gotham.”

After all, to a person whom had only lived their life in sunny, clean, state-of-the-art, sparkling Metropolis, dingy, smog-choked, dirty, dark Gotham would be a jarring change. 

Sure enough, several hours later, Daniel peered through the passenger window. Craning his neck to scrutinize the overcast haze in the sky. A veil of smog and soot that blocked out the sun. He looked at the clock on his phone, then back up at the sky. “Jersey's in the same timezone as Delaware, right?” 

Tim deigned not to dignify that with a response. He hoped it was rhetorical. 

“Why's it night?”

“That would be the layer of perma-smog.” Tim smiled and lowered his window to breath it in. Such thick, tangy air. Gotham had a unique flavor to it. Metropolis was just too clean. Artificially clean. Its ugly side swept out of sight and hidden under a sparkling veneer. Gotham was more honest in that respect. It wore its dark side and flaws on its sleeve. Out in the open for the whole world to see. No pretense. Just honest grime.

They turned down a street and the buildings grew taller. They were entering the downtown district now. The skyscrapers climbing high enough to block the sun. It actually grew darker. 

Daniel turned away from his window. “So its, literally, always night in Gotham.”

“Pretty much.” Tim shrugged, still smiling. “Great, isn't it!”

Because they were Robins, and Robins were of the night. 

“Okay...” The boy began slowly. His scent shifting and filling the car with the distinct odor of concern. “But how am I gonna get any sunlight?”

Because Daniel was also part kryptonian and needed to absorb solar energy in order to maintain the meager set of powers he had. If it was always night in Gotham because sunlight couldn't penetrate its haze, how was he going to get the solar energy he needed.

“Don't worry.” Tim remained calm. “We'll be staying at the Gotham Park Towers. They're tall enough to reach above the perma-smog layer. I wouldn't forget to account for something as important as that.”

Daniel visibly relaxed. 

Tim inhaled another breath of the tangy Gotham air. It was good to be home.


	3. Wicked Little Town

Amazingly, Terry happened to find a subway car with a plasma screen that wasn't -completely- covered in graffiti. 

It was some boring business-world story about how L-Corp's Gotham office was getting a visit from one of the top executives from the main office in Metropolis. Terry wasn't really paying much attention. But even with the little bit that was making it through his teenage haze of apathy, it seemed more like a gossip blurb than actual business news. The newscaster mentioned that the exec in question used to be one of the late Bruce Wayne's foster children, but moved to Metropolis when he eloped with Lex Luthor's son, Conner. She then went on to conjecture if this impromptu trip back to Gotham implied trouble in their marriage. 

Terry rolled his eyes. What was the world's fascination with butting into every celebrity's personal life? Why should he care about the marital status of some rich asshole he'd never even heard of before?

Speaking of assholes... The train made a stop and a joker stepped into the car. The Jokerz were a gang that sprang up not long after the disappearance of the original Joker. There had always been copy cats and crazies trying to imitate the Joker, but it wasn't until he vanished into urban legend that the Jokerz really emerged, got organized, and became a serious problem within the city. Terry glared at the joker. He might be a delinquent who indulged in petty crimes like breaking and entering and theft. But he had standards. There was a line. His crimes preyed on things, not people. 

The joker walked right up to the train car's -mostly- ungraffitied screen, shook a can of paint, and sprayed a bright red smily face right over the news caster. Then added a halo of 'Ha! Ha!Ha!' radiating out from it. He spun around with a dramatic swoosh and gave an exaggerated and theatric bow. 

Everyone was trying to look anywhere but at him. 

The joker frowned, his eyes scanning the car for a mark. His glance settled on a woman sitting alone. The joker hopped over to her, sitting so close she could smell his Beta pheromones. He held his hand out to her, leering uncomfortably. The greasepaint on his face smudging in places, making him seem all the more deranged. “Payment, please.”

“W-what?” She blinked at him. Her own Omega scent shuddering with alarm. 

It filled the car so that Terry -whom was standing a good four seats away from her- got a clear and undiluted whiff of it. He felt a growl rumble up out of his chest before he was even consciously aware that he was reacting to the Omega's distress. He crossed the space to them. 

“For the joke you bought.” The joker was saying. “I saw you smiling.”

“What? No! I- I didn't-” She looked to the side, to the other people on the train sitting closest to her. But they were mostly all Betas themselves and weren't about to stand up to a joker for an Omega that was foolish enough to take Gotham's public transpiration without a friend, or pepper spray, or a weapon for protection. Didn't she know that the victims of 46% of crime in Gotham were Omegas? She had no one to blame but herself. 

Terry reached them. He grabbed the joker by the asymmetrical strap of his ridiculously colored overalls. “Get lost dreg!”

For half a moment, it looked like the joker was about to challenge him back. But then his nose caught up with the rest of him and registered the aggressive and protective scent Terry was flooding the car with. That wasn't the scent of another Beta. Such a potent reek could only come from an Alpha. The joker looked around at the rest of the passengers again. The strong and commanding scent of an Alpha now was bolstering their courage. They weren't just strangers on a train anymore, now they were a pack with an Alpha and an Omega, and their Omega was being threatened. The joker's own Beta instincts were telling him he needed to either offer his submission or else flee. 

The train pulled into another station. The doors opened. -And the joker blew a raspberry at Terry before jumping out the door. With the doors open, new air with Gotham's unique metallic tang drifting in, and new passengers coming in with their fresh pheromones, the illusion of pack-harmony vanished and they were no long an Alpha and his pack defending their Omega. They were once again strangers on a train. When their respective commutes were completed, they didn't think about each other ever again. 

Terry met up with Dana and Max outside the school's main entrance. He was early for once -early for Terry- that is to say, he was on time. Dana rolled her eyes at him, crossing the space between them she grabbed his arm, rubbing her chin against it. Marking him as hers with her muted Beta scent. 

Terry leaned down to rub his chin over the top of her head, marking her in return. Their parents didn't exactly approve when they did this. They were too young to be formal mates. But they had been dating for a long time and -their parents didn't know it- but they were also sleeping together.

It did, however, make the people around them feel a little awkward. Max took a few steps towards the school's main entrance. “Well, I'll see ya later, you two. Principal Nakamura wants me to show some new transfer kid around campus.”

She disappeared into the building. 

“We should head in too.” Dana commented. “Unless you wanna be tardy again.”

Terry's only response was to scoff. He had gone up against a joker no less than an hour before and come out the winner. He was feeling pretty invincible and wasn't afraid of being marked tardy -for the third time this week alone. If he could intimidate a joker out of his mark, he could do anything. 

…

Gloves, goggles, and mask firmly in place, Harry Tully opened the case Mr. Fixx had delivered to his lab. It was about the size of a normal and mundane briefcase, except that the exterior was stainless steel and the interior was dense concussion-foam to protect whatever was inside it from being bumped or jostled. 

In this instance, what was inside it was a pressure sealed canister, just a little bigger than a can of Arizona iced tea.Tully lifted the canister out of the concussion-foam bed and saw the old Lex Corp. logo stamped on it just above a label that identified it as DI-79. He'd heard stories about the compound, gossip between chemical engineers. He never actually thought it existed, much less that he'd be working with it. 

Tully looked up at Mr. Fixx, his hands keeping a firm grip on the canister -lest it slip from his fingers, burst open, and kill them all. “What does Mr. Powers want?”

“Luthor never worked out the delivery system.” Fixx explained, as if this should have been obvious and he shouldn't have to tell Tully how to do his freaking job. “Figure out a delivery system that works. Something Mr. Powers can market.” 

'What the hell kind of demographic would someone even market this too!?' Tully wanted to say. Except that he could already guess. One did not become as powerful as Derek Powers was, as quickly as he did, by playing nice and only making friends with clean partners who had altruistic intentions. Dirt and violence were far more lucrative. Powers wanted a weapon. Something to sell to warlords of second and third world countries -or maybe even their own government as something to use in the next absurd but inevitable alternate dimension encroachment or alien invasion. In the end it didn't matter. Tully just had to work out a delivery system that effectively weaponized the chemical. 

“A name change is in order.” He informed Mr. Fixx. “Can't market something that's so blatantly not ours.”

He took a sharpie from the pocket of his lab coat and scratched out the old Lex Corp logo and the label DI-79, writing under it the letters NRV -because the chemical was a nerve agent and Tully thought he was being clever. 

“My team will start work on project NRV right away. 

…

Terry and Dana didn't see Max again until lunch time. She sauntered up to where they sat on the quad, dragging the new student she was showing around behind her. Terry smelled him before he saw him. His nostrils flaring as his hindbrain registered the pheromones was a new Omega. 

“Hey, guys.” Max sat down, pulling the new Omega down next to her. 

“Hey, Max. This the new guy?” Dana smiled at the new comer. 

Her muted Beta scent friendly and welcoming on the surface, but just underneath it was a subtle souring of suspicion, maybe even... jealousy? She cuddled closer to Terry and rubbed another scent mark into his jacket for good measure. Her boyfriend was an Alpha and this new guy was unmistakably an Omega, and everyone new that Alpha and Omega were supposed to be natural mates. It didn't always work out that way since there were way more Betas in the world than there were Alphas or Omegas. Sometimes an Omega or an Alpha took a Beta as a mate simply because that was what was available to them. Terry's own parents were an Omega-Beta pairing. But they didn't stay together. After all, why would an Alpha or Omega keep a Beta when they could have their natural counterpart?

“Yeah.” Max smiled, pointedly ignoring her friend's blatant insecurity. She had no reason to feel threatened. It wasn't like there weren't any Omega at school with them already. “This is Daniel.”

“I prefer 'Dan'.” The new guy shrugged. He, at least, seemed unaffected -or at the very least, unconcerned- with Dana's quiet but obvious hostility. “My parents don't even call me 'Daniel'.” A pause. “Unless they're mad at me. But then they drag out the whole name, middle and both last names.”

Terry wasn't aware that he was sniffing the air unconsciously until Dana gave his chest a light slap with the back of her hand. He stopped immediately. Not only was it making her mad, but it was also incredibly rude in mixed company. There was just something so off about Dan the new Omega transfer student. His scent was unmistakably Omega, that wasn't in question. But there was something odd about it. Some strange and subtle undertone that seemed just so... alien to Terry's nose. 

He was a transfer student. Could he be from out of town? His body hadn't yet been steeped in the unique tang of Gotham's air. But that shouldn't affect his body's natural scent. Terry wasn't aware he was starring until the new guy called him on it. 

“Do I have something on my face?” Daniel ran a finger over one eyebrow, then down the side to his cheek, almost as if tracing the outline of something.

Terry blinked, suddenly very self-conscious. Even he was aware of how weird he was acting, and there was no reason for it. It wasn't like this Dan guy was the first Omega he'd ever met. His mother was an Omega and they went to school with a handful of Omegas. It was just because this one happened to smell slightly different than the rest of them. Probably because he was from out of town and hadn't yet acquired the unique funk of Gotham. That was it. 

“Uh, no.” Terry looked away and pointedly rubbed a scent mark of his own onto Dana's shoulder. 

Daniel leaned sideways over to Max and whispered, “Do they always do that in public?”

Public displays of affection like kissing or nuzzling was nothing new. Even students at Daniel's old school were allowed to do that, and Dalton Academy had some very strict rules about student conduct. But scent-marking was different from kissing. Scent-marking was intimate and personal. Daniel wouldn't go so far as to call it indecent to do in public, but even his parents whom didn't usually believe in censoring themselves and had no qualms about having loud and vocal sex knowing their children heard everything that happened in their home, had never scent marked each other in view of others. 

“Yes.” She hissed back. “All the time. And, yes, its always this awkward to watch.”

“Ah.” Daniel chose not to comment, instead taking a bite of his lunch to avoid having to talk. Watching the Alpha mark his Beta girlfriend did make the Omega awkward and uncomfortable, but not because of the public spectacle it was. 

…

Tim was going over building schematics and floor plans for Powers Technologies main research building -which was on the same campus of its corporate office, just on the opposite side- when Daniel returned from school. 

He swanned in, shut the door behind him with a dramatic sigh, discarded his backpack, and flopped down on the couch next to the older Omega. 

Tim sipped his coffee, completely unaffected and zoomed in on the skylights of the second lab, trying to decide if they were a viable point of ingress or if they were too impractical once one factored in Powers' security measures. 

Daniel heaved another dramatic sigh. 

Rotating the schematic again, Tim scrolled down the three dimensional projection until he found the service tunnels that ran under the campus between the research building, corporate office, and public access. They would be easier to get into, but more labyrinthine, harder to navigate. It would take more time to get into the actual labs and find Lex's stupid chemical weapon. 

“So, I met Terry today.” Daniel finally announced. Sick of his subtle hints being ignored. “The honors student they had showing me around actually turned out to be his friend. So I didn't even have to orchestrate some sort of casual encounter. She just dragged me over to her lunch table and he was already there.”

“Convenient.” Tim commented. He ruled out the service tunnels too. That left the windows on the south side of the building. They weren't that big, but they did open. Even after three children Tim was in good shape and he was always slight framed and lithe. He could fit through the narrow space -he was pretty sure. He looked sideways at his son. “Is that the end of your report. The student that Principal Nakamura had showing you around was his friend so now you already have an in with his pack.”

Daniel wasn't sure if he would call Max, Dana, and Terry a 'pack'. They were definitely friends, for sure. But there didn't seem to be much of a sense of 'pack harmony' between them. They liked each other and they hung out, but there was no unification between their scents. No synchronization between their pheromones. Dan might butt heads with Ariel and defy Pa on a semi-regular basis, but their pheromones synchronized like family -because they were family. But a pack didn't have to be related by blood to be a pack. According to Mom, Bruce and all his Robins, Batgirls, and other adopted children were like that. Synchronized and harmonious (most of the time). The Teen Titans were like that. A pack with multiple Alphas, and -to a lesser degree- the Justice League was like that too. Terry, Dana, and Max were not like that. 

“Anything else you'd like to add?” 

The corners of his mouth turning down in a contemplative frown, Daniel asked the one thing that had really bothered him about meeting Terry. “Have you or Pa ever scent-marked each other in public?”

“Once or twice, I think. When we were younger.” Tim answered. “Its a little inappropriate to do in front of other people.” In fact it was comparable to grabbing your partners ass or breast, or grinding against them through their clothing. It wasn't like you were about to strip down and start knotting on the open street, but it still wasn't appropriate conduct in mixed company. Then Tim looked up in alarm, an uncomfortable thought occurring to him. “Did someone try to scent-mark you!?”

Because, even though Daniel was new to the school and didn't know anyone, this was Gotham and fucked up shit just sort of happened here. Just like scent-marking was comparable to groping or grinding, those actions if unwanted would be considered a sexual assault, an unsolicited or unwanted scent-mark would most definitely also be considered an assault. It was basically claiming another person as your property. It was a good thing Kon wasn't here right now. If he were, the Alpha would be freaking out, eyes glowing red, and threatening to raze that school to the ground for not protecting his Omega child. Luckily, the demi-kryptonian was not here and Tim was much more level headed. 

He leaned forward and sniffed his son. Giving the boy's scent a critical examination. Looking for any traces of pheromones, or other smells that did not belong on him. There was confusion and mild alarm. A bit of nervous perspiration. The fragrances of his body wash and the fabric softener the concierge laundry service used. The slightly metallic tang that came from walking in the thick Gotham air. All of it layering over his natural Omega pheromones, slightly different from a completely human Omega -just like Kon was different from a completely human Alpha. Nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing to get excited about. Daniel was fine and Tim had freaked out over -literally- nothing. 

The older Omega cleared his throat. Reclaiming his calm demeanor. 

Daniel blinked at him. 

“Terry and his girlfriend were marking each other pretty much all day.” The boy explained. “It was actually a little gross to watch.”

“Ah.” Now Tim understood. The question was relevant to the case. He was trying to gain a better understanding of his subject's behavior. That was good. It wasn't because someone had accosted and tried to mark his son, or his son had inexplicably met and wanted to mark someone in the span of a single day. He was just collecting information to do a better job. Tim relaxed a tension he wasn't even aware he had. 

“She's a Beta.” Daniel went on to explain even though Tim hadn't asked and her cast wasn't even all that relevant. “I don't even know what he sees in her, really. Terry's a pretty potent Alpha. I scented him almost as soon as I got in the cafeteria. He could have anyone in that school. What's he doing with her?”

Tim closed the schematics he was studying and returned his full, complete, and unwavering attention to his son. His eldest child whom Jason joked was gonna follow in his footsteps right down to the detail of getting pregnant at sixteen. Now he was worried. More worried than he was when he thought someone tried to scent-mark the boy. If Daniel didn't want someone's attention, he was more than capable of fending them off. Bat training plus kryptonian strength. If anyone tried to force the his son into anything against his will they would end up in the ICU. But if Daniel actually wanted it... If Daniel encouraged it... was enthusiastic... an active participant...

Oh, god! And Terry was Bruce son! An Alpha potent -sometimes overpowering enough- to clash tempers with other powerful Alphas like Superman and win. 

For some reason, that detail was more disturbing than the idea of his still teenaged son asking about scent-marks. Daniel had been old enough to date -in Tim's opinion- for a couple years, but he'd never really shown much interest in it before. He was always more focused on convincing Kon to let him put on a Cape and participate on cases. The idea that Daniel was suddenly and inexplicably interested in an Alpha was jarring. 

And that Alpha was -genetically speaking, at least- Bruce's son... 

“You are not allowed to date Terry McGinnis!” Tim heard himself bark before he was even aware he opened his mouth. 

“What?” Daniel blinked at him. “Who said anything about that?”

Seriously. All he asked was why an Alpha -especially one with as bold and potent a scent as Terry- would stick with an unremarkable Beta when he could successfully seduce any Omega he wanted. That was what Alphas were supposed to want, right? Pa was an Alpha and he only had eyes for Mom, whom was an Omega. Uncle Dick's best friend Wally was an Alpha and his wife Linda was an Omega. Carter Hal -Hawkman- and John Stewart -one of the Green Lanterns- were both Alphas and they were still -to this this day- competing over the affections of the Omega Shiera -Hawkwoman. (Never mind that Shiera had already had a child by Stewart. Rex, an Alpha like his father. He was a little older than Daniel, but not by much. He'd been going by the name Warhawk for a couple years before Daniel donned the guise of Super Robin.)

Bottom line, academically, Daniel knew that there had to be some Alpha-Beta relationships simply by grace of the fact that there were more Betas in the world than there were Omegas or Alphas. He just didn't get why an Alpha would choose a Beta when he had the option of an Omega. 

Tim just stared at his son. 

“What?” 

“I need to do some reconnaissance on the Powers complex tonight.” Tim decided it was best to change the subject and move their focus back to the reasons they were here in Gotham. “If you get your homework done before midnight you can come with me.”

…

The Powers Technologies campus was comprised of three main buildings, a concrete courtyard, and ample parking. Seriously, it was probably the only place in Gotham where visitors didn't have to worry about finding a space to leave their car -provided they were willing to pay Powers' absurd parking fees. The employee parking structure was located right up alongside the main research building and was almost as tall as it. 

Red Robin and Super Robin landed on the upper most level of the structure and climbed up the side of the research building to a row of tall but narrow windows that ran the width of the building. 

“Shame you don't have TTK like your brother.” Red Robin lamented as he examined the seem between window and sill. 

“Gabe and keep his TTK.” Super Robin scoffed, reaching into this belt. He pulled out a selection from the variety of tools he carried with him and began picking the window's latch. When it popped open, the semi-demi-kryptonian smiled. “Who needs oddly specific telekinesis when I have your training?”

The younger man slipped inside. 

Red Robin couldn't help the small smile of pride at his son's words. “That is the correct answer.”

The older Omega moved to follow only to realize that he was just a smidgen too wide to fit through the narrow opening. The architects allowed the windows to open for fresh air ('fresh' being a subjective concept in Gotham) and ventilation. But had to keep them narrow enough that the average person couldn't fit through to discourage suicide (which was a common enough occurrence in Gotham without the added pressure of a competitive job in the science department of a ruthless corporation). Red Robin had always been a bit small for his age and his sex. Slender and petite. But...

“This is what I get for having three kids.” He growled at nothing in particular.

“What?” Super Robin blinked at him. 

“Nothing.” Red Robin was quick to assure him. He reached a hand up to press the Robin emblem on his chest where the bandoliers met. The crossed belt fell away as did the heavy back cape. He caught them before they could fall back down onto the parking level below them and tossed them inside where Super Robin caught them. Next he took off his belt and tossed that to his son. Finally, Red Robin sucked in his belly, tucked in his ass, and managed to shimmy inside. 

He collected his belt, bandoliers, and cape from his son and put his costume to rights.

“You alright there?” Super Robin was trying really, really hard not to laugh. 

“We are finding a different way out.” Red Robin informed the boy. He strode past the younger man and to the nearest computer terminal. Booting up the system, he sat down and began searching the files for anything that looked like it could somehow link back to the theft at L-Corp. 

“Why don't you just do a search for DI-79?” Asked Super Robin. 

Fingers flew over the keyboard. Red Robin did not look up at his son when he replied, “Because they wouldn't keep something so blatantly stolen laying around. 'DI-79' is just a name and can be easily changed. They would change it to something else in an attempt to pass it off as their own. Probably some stupid ironic hypster name too, like 'aerosol pineapple' or 'dirigible spork'.”

“Those aren't ironic, they're just stupid.”

Red Robin ignored this comment. He agreed with it, but there were more important things to do. A complete and thorough search would take too long, so he pulled out his PDA and began a download of the database. 

“So, is this what we're gonna do all night?” Asked Super Robin. “Watch a download status bar go from 10% complete and 26 minutes to 16% complete and 30 minutes.”

“You could go to the break-room and see what kind of coffee they stock.” Red Robin informed the younger vigilante. “Just remember to use paper cups so we can take them with us when we leave.”

Can't leave any evidence behind that they were here and a used coffee mug -more importantly, a used coffee mug with their saliva on it- was pretty damning and dangerous evidence to leave behind. 

Super Robin crossed his arms over his chest. “Pa's right. You do drink too much coffee.”

…

On the way back to their suit in the Gotham Park Towers, they were intercepted. 

Tim had just reached the crest of his swing, released the line and was about to shoot the second line when a black and violet blur came streaking out of nowhere. It plucked him out of the sky with an excited sequel of glee. 

“Ugh!” Red Robin groaned, the wind knocked out of him.

While his attacker exclaimed “Uncle Tim!” At a volume that was not appropriate to be using when throwing out secret identities. 

Tim recognized the voice before he registered the hybrid alien scent. Not alien like a kryptonian's scent was alien. Kryptonians might not be human and their casts might smell slightly different than earthling casts, but Tamaraneans were descended from a feline-like species and did not have casts at all. Everyone was just a weird amalgamation of all casts, and yet no casts at the same time. This hybrid scent fluttered between the assertive aggression of an Alpha, and the emotional height of an Omega, both tempered by the stability of a Beta. 

“Mar- Nightstar!” Red Robin exclaimed. He almost used her real name. But unlike his niece, Tim did not throw out names and identities so casually. 

Nightstar landed on the closest rooftop she could find and let her uncle down. 

Tim took a few steps back to glare at her properly. She didn't even look the least bit abashed at the fact that she'd practically shouted his name over the city. (Never mind that they were high enough up in the air that it wasn't likely anyone heard.) Cloud of midnight colored hair wafting around her shoulders, seemingly immune to the pull of gravity. Domino mask covering her eyes. Gold skin shimmering in the street light reflecting off the perma-smog layer. Wearing a variation of the Nightwing uniform but in purple instead of blue, the wings of the bird stretching over her shoulders, down her arms, to end in two stripes on her middle and index fingers. Those Graysons, they did love their finger-stripes. She had cut the mid-section of the costume out, displaying the angle of her ribcage and the flat plane of her abs, how narrow her waist was, and how curve of her spine. Dick probably did not approve of that, but then, Mar'i was at an age where her father's opinions didn't have any authority over her anymore. 

“Oh, don't give me that look.” She pouted in a way that was all Dick. 

Super Robin landed on the roof next to them. “What's going on? Nightstar?”

Nightstar squealed again and launched herself on Super Robin. “Look at you! All grown up and wearing a Cape!” She let go of him. “Well, give us a twirl, let me look at you.”

“Uh, what?”

Red Robin pinched the bridge of his nose through the cowl. Mar'i was as touchy-feely and affectionate as Dick, but with all the strength and energy of a Tamaranean princess. He groaned. “Just humor her.”

Hesitantly, Super Robin gave an awkward little twirl. Pivoting on his heel so that his red cape lifted slightly, giving the hybrid Tamaranean vigilante a complete view of his all back unitard, yellow utility belt, red gloves, boots, and shield. 

“I like the shield.” She smiled at the emblem on his chest. The pentagonal shield of the El-crest, but in place of the S was instead the bird silhouette of the Red Robin emblem. “Its a good balance between Uncle Kon and Ti-” another glare from Red Robin “-uh, between Superman and Red Robin.”

Daniel flushed under his mask. 

Clearing his throat, Red Robin brought Nightstar's attention back to him. “What are you doing back in Gotham? I thought you were still in Bludhaven, taking over custodianship of Nightwing's territory for him.”

“I do usually work in Bludhaven most nights.” She agreed. “But I've actually been living at the manor for the past year or so.” A casual shrug. “The commutes not that far for someone who can fly, and it gives Dami and I more time together.”

Something about that statement didn't make sense to Red Robin. It wasn't about the commute between Bludhaven and Gotham. The distance between the two cities was comparable to the distance between Gotham and Metropolis. Since Mar'i could fly, that distance was negligible. So it was not the fact that she was commuting that was confusing him. It was...

“I'm sorry, did you say you're living with Damian?” It was a true testament to just how much her statement had thrown him that he used Batman's real name.

“Well, yeah.” She brushed a wisp of mist-like midnight hair back behind her ear. 

“Freely? Of your own choice?” Tim -honestly- could not imagine a person actually choosing to live with Damian Wayne. Not if they didn't have to. Not it they weren't being made to. Not if they weren't honor bound to tollerate him because his biological father was also your adopted father. Not they had a place of their own to go back to. There was just no way a person could choose to live with the little Demon spawn. (Well, he wasn't so little anymore, but the point still stood!) “Why?”

Behind the whited out lenses of her domino mask, Mar'i blinked at him. “You mean you haven't been reading Oracles monthly Bat Fam news letters? I know she's got your email address.”

Tim made a croaking sound. 

Nightstar clapped her hands together, as if coming to a decision. “We have to catch up! Come to the manor some time. We'll do lunch, and Dami and I can catch you up on everything you've been missing. Ooh! Lets make a reunion of it! I'll invite Steph and her daughter, and Cass, and Babs, and Duke, and you can bring Kon and the other two, and of course Tata will be there too. Hey, do you know how to get in touch with Uncle Jay?”

Tim was pinching the nose-bridge of his cowl again. 

Super Robin stepped between his mother and his... cousin? How did one assign familial relations within a pack where almost all the members were adopted? “Text me the details. I'll make sure Mom shows up.” 

“Great!” Nightstar smiled, her feet literally leaving the ground. Seriously, she was way too happy and cheerful a person to be a member of this family. “And it would be nice if you could bring the others too! Maybe... maybe not Luthor. I'll ask Dami when will be good for him-” probably never, Tim thought “-and text you the details.”

She flew off.

Red Robin sighed. “I swear. She is -literally- a female, flying version of Nightwing.”

Daniel snorted at the comparison. “Finger-stripes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading thus far! 
> 
> Towards the end of this chapter you might have noticed a detail about Mar'i not actually having a cast because Tamaraneans didn't have A/O/B dynamics. So I figured you guys might appreciate a list of the aliens and races that do and don't have A/O/B casts. 
> 
> **The ones that DON'T:**  
>  * Tamaraneans  
> * Atlantian  
> * Martians (all colors)  
> * Coluans   
> ((probably more that I'm forgetting))
> 
>  **The ones that DO:**  
>  * Humans  
> * Kryptonians - it stands to reason that, in looking for a place to send his infant son, Jor-El would want to choose a planet where the dominant species is similar enough to his own that he would have some chance of fitting in. But, because they are still aliens, I've decided that on Krypton there are JUST Alphas and Omegas and no Beta cast.  
> * Thanagareans - except, because they're also aliens and can't be exactly the same as humans or kryptonians, they have four casts instead of two or three. Alphas, Omegas, and what would be the "Beta" cast is split into Epsilon and Rho. (Why those letters? Why does it go from Alpha, Beta, then jump all the way to Omega at the end?)  
> (( probably others that I'm forgetting ))


	4. I'll Be Seeing You

Some schools like Dalton, private schools with an abundance of funding, divided up their gym locker and changing rooms along cast lines. They kept and maintained three separate showers, lockers, and changing rooms for Alpha, Beta, and Omega students. That way, no one had to be exposed to another casts' pheromones when they were in any version of a state of undress and vulnerable. 

But not all schools had the budget to maintain three separate facilities. A public school like Hamilton High managed to cut it down to only two locker rooms by dividing the students by assigned sex. All sex-assigned females, be they Alpha, Beta, or Omega went to the girls' locker room. All sex-assigned males, be they Alpha, Beta, or Omega went to the boys' locker room. Everyone's different sweat and pheromones mixing and mingling together in a thick miasma of scents. 

A cloud of smells that made even Betas a little dizzy some times, and made casts that were more sensitive to pheromones -like Alphas- do stupid things.

Terry knew he was starring again. Dana would be mad if she knew, but Dana wasn't here right now -and Daniel was. 

Daniel's locker was opposite his, the Omega's back to him. He didn't see the Alpha's eyes fixed on him. The room was full of the combined scents and pheromones of every sex-assigned male student in the school, but their lockers were close enough that Terry could clearly smell Daniel's Omega scent through all the others. Different from other Omega scents, not in an unpleasant way. Just out of the ordinary enough to be noticed. 

Terry watched as the other boy peeled off his gym shirt. A gym shirt that was completely devoid of sweat even though the Alpha clearly saw Daniel running the mile with the rest of the class. He was even a little faster than average, too, finishing in a time that was in the top fifteen for all the gym classes that period. The Omega should be sweating. But he wasn't. His scent remained devoid of perspiration or the pheromones of exertion. In fact, Daniel's Omega scent remained at baseline school-neutral for most of the period. Almost as if he were board. As if physical education wasn't challenging for him in the least. 

The gym shirt was thrust in the locker and Terry took the opportunity to appreciate the muscles of his back. Daniel was pretty fit for a spoiled little rich boy. You could see the muscles of his shoulders as he reached into the locker for his regular civies shirt. The way his spine curved as he draped it over his shoulders. A flash of sculpted abs when he turned slightly to slip one arm in the sleeve. Daniel had a very attractive body and it wasn't just because he was an Omega.

Being an Omega just happened to be his -most- attractive feature. 

...And Terry wasn't the only one who held that opinion. 

He felt his hackles rise with a silent snarl as another Alpha approached Daniel. Nelson Nash, star player of the hokey team, former team captain of the wrestling team, and one of the most popular Alphas in school crossed the locker room to the new and distracted Omega. He placed one arm on either side of the other boy, effectively trapping Daniel against his open locker. 

The Omega spun around, crystal-blue eyes narrowing at the Alpha. His scent suddenly spiking, shifting from baseline neutral and board, to alarmed and... irritated. Terry would have expected fear at suddenly being boxed in by someone he wasn't familiar with. But, odd reaction aside, Terry felt himself taking a step to towards them, ready to jump to the Omega's aid against the other aggressive Alpha. 

“Hey, I noticed you're new around here.” Nelson said, his face inappropriately close to Daniel's. 

The Omega sniffed the air between them, his face remaining impassive and unreadable as he glared at the Alpha with that intense -almost penetrating- crystal eyed stare. His scent was more irritated than alarmed now. The Alpha was radiating pheromones that made his intensions clear. But Daniel was not impressed. “Really? You noticed that all on your own.”

Nelson's scent flashed with confusion for a moment. Sarcasm and sass wasn't usually how Omega responded to him when he was filling the air around them with his clear and apparent interest. After all, Nelson was an Alpha. Weren't Omegas supposed to be extra receptive to Alpha pheromones? Not to mention the fact that he was athletic, attractive, popular, and had his own car. Nelson thought he had a lot to offer. He wasn't used to Omegas not being interested in him back.

“I could show you around.” He offered, trying to keep the flow of things. “Show you all the best spots, introduce you to all the best people.”

“Uh-huh.” Daniel muttered, still not impressed. He began buttoning up his shirt. His face was still impassive and calm, but his scent practically vibrated with silent annoyance. “Show me the backseat of your car more likely.”

“Well... if you're interested...”

“I'm not.” Daniel snapped. He finished buttoning his shirt and noted that Nelson's arms were still boxing him in. “We're done here. You can let me go now.”

Nelson didn't and Daniel's Omega scent that had previously just been colored by irritation darkened with honest-to-goodness anger. 

“Look, you're clearly not from Gotham, so let me explain something to you.” Nelson growled, the sound low in his throat, his own Alpha scent rumbling with his own flavor of annoyance mixed with a standard dose of aggression. “A skinny little Omega like you is a prime target for every low-life, pervert, and gang banger in this town. You want an Alpha on your side. An Alpha who can keep you safe and satisfied.”

“I'm sure I can manage.” Daniel growled back. Nelson was trying to use his Alpha pheromones to intimidate the Omega into submitting. But this cocky little -normal human- adolescent was no where near as potent as Pa, or even Ariel (and Ariel was still young and developing). After growing up around Alpha's with their potent hybrid-alien pheromones, an average human like Nelson was nothing to get excited about. A normal human would have to be a pretty potent Alpha to temp his Omega instincts. 

“I don't think you get what's happening here.” Nelson still wasn't letting this go. 

There was a small shift in the air just before Terry closed his hand around Nelson's wrist. Speaking of pretty potent Alphas. Terry's territorial and protective scent seemed to overpower Nelson's almost the moment he entered their personal space. Daniel caught himself inhaling a deep breath of it, eyelashes fluttering, before he even realized what he was doing, he let the breath out in a cough. 

“He said he wasn't interested.” The other Alpha growled, also low in the throat. A deep rumbling threat. “That means you take your stanky ass out of his personal space and let the guy breath!”

“Stay out of this McGinnis!” Nelson snarled back. 

Daniel took the opportunity of the Alpha's distraction to crouch down and slip out from between Nelson's arms. He tucked his shirt into his pants before casting his eyes back at the locker, trying to figure out a way to get his backpack without reentering either of the Alpha's personal space. 

Terry did let go of Nelson's arm, but not to leave the other Alpha alone and stay out of his business. Instead, he grabbed a fist full of the other boy's shirt, spinning them around to slam him against the lockers. Daniel winced visibly at the loud sound it made. Terry misinterpreted the wince and accompanying spike of discomfort in his scent as shock or fear at the violence. Hey, Alphas fighting could be scary for a Omega. 

“Can't you see you're making him uncomfortable!” He barked at the other Alpha. 

To be completely honest, yeah, Daniel was annoyed. But he wasn't actually uncomfortable until Terry came over trying to be his annoying little white knight as if he were some old world Omega that needed rescuing. In fact, Terry was almost as bad as his Pa or brother. Trying to take care of him as if he weren't perfectly capable of taking care of himself. (At least Terry had an excuse. Unlike Ariel and Pa, he didn't know that Daniel could benchpress a sedan.) 

“Honestly, I'd really just like to get my backpack and get to class.” He informed the Alphas he refused to acknowledge were fighting over him. Shit like this never happened at Dalton Academy in Metropolis. Then again, he never would have been changing in front of Alpha's at Dalton. “So, if you could hold your knot measuring contest somewhere else, that'd be great.” 

The thing about Alphas was that they were very responsive to Omega pheromones, but not nearly as responsive to Omega words. Both boys ignored him while also somehow managing to continue fighting over him. They seemed content to snarl and growl at one another, each trying to intimidate the other into offering submission -except that Alphas didn't easily submit (unless it was an older or more authoritative Alpha like a parent, or teacher).

Luckily, the sounds of their rough housing drew the attention of one of the sports coaches. Coach Fitz came over, grabbing each boy by a shoulder and physically prying them apart. Fitz was a Beta, not an Alpha, but he'd worked at Hamilton High for at least twenty years. This was not the first Alpha fight he had to break up and it would not be the last. 

“What the heck is going on here!?” He snarled at the adolescent males. 

“I donno.” Nelson was the first to answer. “The new guy and I were just talking and then McGinnis just came over and attacked me.”

“That's not true!” Terry was quick to argue. “He was creeping on the new guy! I was just standing up for him!”

“The new guy has a name, ya know!” Daniel snapped at the Alpha, but -in typical Alpha fashion- he was only paying attention to the Omega's scent which was angry and frustrated, not his words which were perfectly reasonable. 

Sighing in exasperation, as if this sort of thing happened all the time and was old news to the Beta, Mr. Fitz turned his attention to Daniel, the subject of the Alpha's conflict. “Well, Luthor, which was it?”

Daniel didn't answer the teacher right away. He looked from one Alpha to the other, trying to decide if telling the truth was worth it. On the one hand, it would get Terry out of trouble and endear the Alpha to him. He was defending his honor -unnecessary though it was- it would make Daniel's mission of surveillance and observation easier if Terry trusted him. On the other hand, Nelson had a higher social standing on campus and getting on his bad side might make his job more difficult in the long run -especially if he had an actual pack behind him, unlike Terry whom literally just had Dana and Max. 

“I don't know what happened.” He finally decided to play the naive and confused Omega that didn't quite understand that the other casts around him might behave differently. “I was just minding my own business when they just started fighting.”

He blinked his big, blue eyes innocently. 

“Are you for real right now?” Terry gaped at him. He thought he was coming to the Omega's rescue. He clearly smelled that Daniel did not like having Nelson up in his personal space. There was no way Daniel could not have known what was going on. Nelson had been radiating 'come to the backseat of my car'. It honestly would not have been any clearer even if he'd said it out loud. Daniel had to know what the other boy meant, and that Terry was saving him from an aggressive Alpha that wasn't used to taking 'no' for an answer. 

Daniel only shrugged, casual and innocent. As if the simple motion absolved him of any involvement. “I'm not from Gotham. Maybe that's just how Alphas are around here.” He focused his attention on Mr. Fitz. “May I get to my next class now?”

“Yeah, Luthor, you can go.” Fitz dragged the two Alphas away. “These two need to take a trip to the principal.”

…

After school, Daniel waited for Terry outside. He leaned against the exterior gate of the side entrance that lead to Terry's train. Watching the other students go by and stretched his hearing back into the school where the Alpha was angrily emptying books from his locker into his backpack and complaining to Dana about what a stupid, two-faced, and jerk Omega he was. 

Dana's sparkling gem of advice was that Terry shouldn't stick his neck out for an Omega he just met when said Omega clearly didn't wasn't going to do the same for him. Daniel thought this was excellent advice and Terry should take it. Listen to his girlfriend. Sure, the advice might be born out of some mild jealousy, but that didn't make it any less valid. Daniel didn't need an Alpha standing up for him and he wasn't about to reward and reinforced antiquated notions of cast roles. Dana was smart. More people should be like Dana. 

Terry slammed his locker shut with a loud and resounding clang of metal that made Daniel's ears ring. Kryptonian super-hearing was great when you were running a surveillance op on someone and wanted to keep your distance. It was not so great when the subject of said op kept making sudden and unexpected loud noises that reverberated through your skull. 

Dana huffed, irritated by Terry's continued frustration. He and Daniel barely knew each other. He should not be so worked up over someone he hadn't even been friends with a week yet. Even if Terry was an Alpha and said person was an Omega and society had conditioned everyone to believe that they should be each other's ideal partners. Daniel heard the Beta's footsteps heading away in the opposite direction. Apparently, she was done with her boyfriend for the day. If he wanted to get himself in trouble over some new guy he didn't even know, that was his problem. Leave her out of it. 

Terry snarled and there was another sound of something impacting metal -presumably his kicking or punching another locker because the normal human exclaimed “Ow!”- before the Alpha's footsteps started heading to the side gate that lead to his train. 

Lost in thought, Terry was startled when a slender hand grabbed the strap of his backpack and yanked him to the side, pressing him against the school's outer gate. At first he assumed it was Nelson ready to settle their dispute after school, and he felt his blood rise in preparation for the confrontation. But then his senses register the irritated and impatient scent of an Omega, the same irritated and impatient scent of a uniquely odd smelling Omega. Terry blinked at Daniel Luthor.

“Dan? What the actual fuck!?” He tried to struggled out of the hold he was in, but the other boy was deceptively strong. It felt like wriggling against a steel bar. 

“You seem a little confused about the nature of our relationship.” Daniel informed him, those blue eyes seeming an unearthly shade of crystal as he glared at the other boy. “I figured we should clear it up before you pull any more stupid stunts.” 

Terry just continued to stare. He was not used to this level of assertiveness and -for lack of a better word- aggression from an Omega. Omega were supposed to be gentle, empathetic, and nurturing. But this encounter seemed almost like he was trying to assert his dominance. That was just weird. That was not how the Alpha-Omega dynamic worked. 

“You are not my Alpha, Terry.” Daniel informed him flatly. Voice an almost business tone, serious, but not grave. A statement of fact. “Neither are you my father, brother, any of my uncles, or anyone else who has any right to insert himself into my business.” 

“Jeez! I thought I was helping you.” The Alpha growled back. “I didn't realize you were all that into Nelson Nash.”

Somehow, when Terry said the name 'Nelson Nash', he managed to make it sound like 'gross assholes'. 

“Whether I'm into him or not is not the point.” Daniel informed him. “The point is that he's my problem to deflect, and you don't have the right to come up and throw your Alpha pheromones around like you've got some claim to me. We've sat together at lunch, like, twice. That does not make us pack and certainly doesn't give you the right to opinions about other Alphas that might speak to me.”

Terry blinked again. This was not an attitude he'd ever encountered from an Omega before. He stood up for Omegas all the time. Random people on the train to or from school, older Omega crossing the street, strangers who's names he didn't even know. He just smelled their need and his Alpha instincts just told him he needed to act. No Omega had ever complained before. Daniel was a weird one. He smelled weird and he acted weird. 

“What are you?”

That question seemed to startle the other boy more than Terry felt it should. He blinked those crystal eyes at him, his arms relaxing enough to let Terry out of the restraining hold he was in. Daniel even almost took a half-step backwards away from him. His scent spiking with sudden and inexplicable alarm and worry. “What do you mean? Why would you ask that?”

Terry sniffed the air between them, trying to get a better read on that strange Omega scent. He knew Daniel didn't smell like other Omegas the moment he scented him that first day at lunch, but now he was seriously considering what that oddness of his pheromones might actually mean. He rubbed the spot where the other boy had been restraining him absentmindedly. He was oddly strong for such a skinny guy too. Sure, he had some muscle under those perfectly tailored clothes, he was also absurdly rich. He could afford personal trainers and body sculptors. Except he was still just a hair too strong for that to be the explanation. 

Then it hit Terry like a ton of bricks. He was absurdly strong and had a weird undertone to his scent that normal people didn't have. “You're a meta!”

“What!?” That spike of alarm from earlier shot all the way up into panic. 

“Yeah!” The Alpha wasn't mad anymore. Now he understood. Terry didn't realize just how much the Omega's unusual scent bothered him until he solved the mystery. “It all makes sense. That's why you smell weird-”

“I do not smell weird!”

“-and you don't act like a normal Omega, and just now you were way stronger than a guy with your build should be.” A pause. “Unless you're a meta! And when I asked what you were, you got all defensive and panicky. You're a meta!”

“Oh my gawd! Stop it! Stop deducing things! You're not a detective!” Daniel snarled at him. Almost defensively, as if Terry inexplicably being a detective prodigy was insulting to him on a personal level. 

“Well, I'm no Batman...” he was the World's Greatest Detective, after all. Terry was just some guy who looked and smelled remarkably similar to Bruce Wayne, the original Batman -whom was a deductive prodigy. “...but I'm not dumb.”

Daniel just stared at him. He back up further. “I made a gross miscalculation.”

He should have just taken Terry's side in the locker rooms. Played the part of the distressed Omega in need of rescue. Catered to Terry's Alpha vanity. Not try and assert his independence from him. Yeah, Daniel didn't need him, but he was supposed to be observing and shadowing him. The easiest way to do that would have been to ingratiating himself to the Alpha. Well, that chance was good and shot to hell! Possibly along with his identity as Super Robin. Just how good of a detective prodigy was Terry anyway? Good enough to figure out that Daniel was a meta, but was he good enough to figure out that he was part kryptonian? That he was the son of Superman and Red Robin? That he was Super Robin? 

Daniel was good and panicked now, and he knew that it was thick enough for the smell of it to be rolling off him in waves. Terry could destroy him! Possibly his whole family too. Once one of their identities was blown, the rest would follow like dominoes. Super Robin was the son of Red Robin and Superman, if Daniel Luthor is Super Robin then Red Robin must be Tim Drake. If Tim Drake is Red Robin than the rest of the Bats had to be the late Bruce Wayne's fosters. If Bruce Wayne's fosters were the Bat children, then the original Batman himself had to be Wayne, and if he was the original, than the current one had to be his natural son and heir, Damian. 

Daniel didn't realize he was hyperventilating until the Alpha wrapped his arms around him, enveloping the Omega in a blanket of comforting pheromones. Of course, all Terry's anger and aggression at being restrained and confronted would melt away the moment his hindbrain registered the other boy's pheromones. Stupid instincts. He did not want to be comforted by the very guy who could ruin him! Never mind the fact that Terry was also the subject of a case he was working and an investigator couldn't afford to become emotionally invested in his cases. 

“Hey, hey...” The other boy soothed, speaking to Daniel's hair, his breath just brushing the top of his ear. “Its okay. It's a secret. I get it. I'd probably keep it a secret if I was a meta too. Especially in this town. Do your parents know?”

Daniel pulled away enough to blink at the other boy. He had figured out that he was a meta-human, but not actually who he was, or even what kind of meta-human. Good. Actually, this was better than good. This was great! Daniel could work with this. It could be their secret. He could use this to ingratiate Terry to him. Terry wouldn't think it was weird if Daniel was always around him if he were helping him conceal his secret. 

Hoping he hadn't calmed down too quickly that the shift in his scent made the Alpha suspicious, Daniel averted his eyes and fluttered his lashes. Then said in a voice that was soft and measured, “I haven't told them.”

It wasn't a lie. He never went up to his parents and said 'Zomg! You guys! I have super powers!' Because that would have been stupid. They knew he had powers before he did. They knew he was going to have powers before he was born. But Terry didn't need to know that. 

“Was that why you had to switch schools?” Terry pressed. 

Daniel paused, trying to think of a good way to lie by telling the truth to that one. 

Terry must have misinterpreted his hesitation as discomfort, because he quickly back peddled. “Sorry, sorry, didn't meant to pry. It's just... I've never met a meta before. Do you know Wonder Woman? Or the Flash!?”

Yes, and yes. They used to be on the same team as his parents, back when they were Young and it was Just- ...them. “Not all meta-humans know each other.”

“Right. Right. Of course.” Terry cleared his throat. He shifted weight from foot to foot. An Alpha who didn't know what to do with himself. Daniel actually liked Alphas when they were awkward and didn't know what to do with themselves -as opposed to throwing their weight and their pheromones around, and telling him what he should and shouldn't do as if he couldn't take care of himself! 

Daniel waited to the count of ten to see if Terry was going to say more. When he still didn't say anything after the ten-count, the semi-demi-kryptonian decided that he just plain didn't know how to end things. “So, about you sticking your nose in between me and other casts...?”

The Alpha blinked, as if startled out of whatever thoughts he was having. “Huh? Oh! Um, yeah... I guess... If you can pin me to the wall you'll be fine against Nelson. So, uh, you do you. I... guess. Unless-” another awkward pause as he retreated back into thought “-unless me stepping in would help you keep your cover better. I mean, I don't know if you've noticed, but Omega don't usually go around fighting their own battles.”

Terry clearly hadn't met any of the Omegas Daniel knew. 

Then again, all the Omegas Daniel knew that did fight their own battles -and fuck whatever Alpha tried to tell them what to do!- were also all either aliens or metas. Hawkwoman, Booster Gold, Kyle Reiner, Secret, his own mother... Okay, so that last one wasn't a meta, but still a member of the Caped community, so still not an example of 'normal' Omegas taking care of themselves instead of letting an Alpha near them do it. 

Daniel sighed. 

Suppressed an inhuman, semi-kryptonian growl. 

Resigned himself that this was just how this op was going to have to go. He traded in two potent and overbearing Alphas (Ariel and Pa) for just one (Terry). But he had a job to do, and keeping Terry close was part of that job. “Alright, fine. You can start by showing me what train to take to downtown. I missed the concierge pick-up so that I could have this little chat with you. Now you get to escort me home. I'm staying at the Gotham Park Towers.”

“Shway. I forget sometimes that your folks are loaded.”

…

After studying the compound thoroughly, Tully was able to duplicate it for mass production. Powers Technologies could now produce whatever quantity of the NRV agent its buyers desired. 

Now he just had to work out a delivery system. Considering how thick and viscus the compound actually was in its base state, Tully understood what made it difficult to use back when he was still going toe-to-toe against the original Superman. Aside from filling water balloons with it and lobbing them at the original Man of Steel, Tully couldn't image how Luthor planned to use it. Then again... this was Lex mother-fucking Luthor. Amoral, sociopathic, mastermind, genius. He could have also teamed up with Weather Wizard, added it to storm clouds, and rained gruesome death down on the whole city of Metropolis. 

Tully understood why Luthor never actually used it. 

But, if the compound could be lightened and thinned out... aerosolized, maybe? That could work. Make it a gas instead of a gel. That could work. 

Now that he managed to reproduce the formula, Tully had plenty to work with. He would make it a NRV gas. 

…

They stopped outside the entrance to the Gotham Park Towers lobby. Terry put his hands in his pockets, once again shifting his weight from foot to foot, not really knowing what to do with himself. “Well, here ya go.”

He walked the Omega home, like they agreed. 

“I suppose the polite thing to do would be to invite you up for a snack, or juice, or something.” Daniel shrugged. His scent had returned to baseline neutral and he was actually considering ways of using this turn of events to his advantage. 

“Oh, I shouldn't impose-” The Alpha tried to refuse, but his stomach betrayed him and gave a soft growl. A normal human probably wouldn't have been able to hear it -especially not against the backdrop of Gotham's street noise- but Daniel heard it. Terry was probably one of those people who had a snack immediately after getting home from school and procrastinating on his homework. His body was used to getting fed around this time.

Daniel rolled his eyes and grabbed the Alpha's wrist. “Come upstairs. I'll get you something to eat before you go.”

It wasn't like Terry could resist anyway, with Daniel's hand closed around his wrist and pulling him inside. They had already established that the other boy was much stronger than him -meta-human strength. Daniel might be the Omega, but for the moment, Terry decided it was better to be the one that submits. If for no other reason than the Alpha liked to keep his shoulder in its socket. Daniel could yank hard! Stumbling slightly, Terry followed the Omega through the lobby to the elevators. 

Unconsciously, he held his breath for a moment when they entered the enclosed space, not knowing if they would be hot-boxed in a cloud of each other's pheromones. The odd smelling Omega affected him strongly enough just out in the open air. But the Gotham Park Towers was a swanky, upscale place. It wouldn't do for their elevators to be smelling of every single cast that passed through them. It might be an enclosed space, but it was exceptionally well ventilated. Fresh -scrubbed- air being pumped in the moment the door closed. Terry released the breath he was holding in. 

Daniel looked at him sideways. “You nervous or something?”

His heart was racing, but the semi-demi-kryptonian wasn't about to say that. Terry didn't need to know he had any more powers than just enhanced strength. 

“I, uh... An Omega's never invited me home before.” He answered truthfully, a flush rising to his cheeks. 

Even with the elevator's excellent ventilation, Daniel could smell the Alpha's self-consciousness layering over a subtle under-layer of nervous arousal. He felt a fluttering in his core the Omega always associated with his own arousal and knew the Alpha's pheromones were affecting him. He took a single -noticeable- sidestep away from the other boy. Terry was a mission, a job, a good investigator with not sleep with their jobs. 

“We're not having sex.” Daniel announced, perhaps a bit louder than was necessary in the small space. “I'm just fixing you a snack before I send you home -alone.”

“I know that!” The Alpha snapped back, attempting to cover up his own arousal with an annoyance that he did not entirely actually feel. 

The Omega only rolled his eyes and watched the floor counter go up. After a certain point he had to wave his room key in front of a sensor on the elevator's panel before it would go up any higher. Finally, the doors opened up onto Daniel's floor -the top floor. 

It was the penthouse floor, but unlike his family's apartment in Metropolis, the entire floor was not one suit. The hotel still had to make money and sometimes they had to cater to more than one absurdly rich and entitled asshole from out of town at a time. The penthouse floor was divided up into four corner suits, each taking up an equal quarter of the floor (not counting a negligible fraction of space for the elevators and emergency stairs). Daniel unlocked the suit with his keycard and opened the door to reveal a hotel room that looked more like an upscale apartment. 

A spacious living room area with couch and coffee table, a TV (that looked unused), kitchenette with full sized refrigerator not those stupid little mini-fridges they stuck in lower-end motels, and wide floor-to-ceiling windows that gave a breathtaking view of the sunset. The actual sunset, with the actual sun. 

Terry stumbled into the suit, mouth a gape. “We're above the perma-smog layer.”

“I know.” Daniel nodded. He closed the door behind them and took a moment to appreciate the sunlight. He got deplorably little of it during the day. Below the smog layer where its rays couldn't penetrate. 

Backpack sliding off his shoulder, Terry walked straight up to the window and pressed his nose to the glass. It occurred to Daniel then to wonder just how often people in Gotham actually saw the sun. If that layer of perma-smog that blocked its light really was -permanent- then was it possible for a person to live their whole life in the city and never actually see the sun? People needed sunlight. Maybe not in the same way that kryptonians did, but humans still needed it. It carried vitamin D, eased depression, and helped keep emotions balanced. Was that why Gotham's crime rates were always so high? Because it was always night in Gotham and everyone was one version or another of emotionally unbalanced. 

“In middle school, my class went on a field trip to Wayne Industries.” The Alpha informed him, eyes still to the window. “But I was sick and had to stay home so I didn't get to go. Everyone else was talking for days about how high Wayne Tower really was, how the perma-smog looked like dirt below them and the sky was blue... I was so jealous I didn't get to go.”

Well, that answered some of Daniel's questions right there. 

He closed the distance between them and opened the balcony door. This high up, the winds were strong and the simple action of opening the door flooded the whole suit with racing air and motion. It also made it impossible for either Terry or Daniel to read each other's scents. “Wanna see outside?”

“Do I!” Terry stepped out onto the balcony and looked own over the city. 

His classmates from back in middle school were right. The thick layer of permanent brown smog that covered the city did look like dirt below him. He looked back up at the sun setting over the mountains. The air was so clear he could actually see the mountains! If the low hanging sun wasn't throwing them into profile, the young Alpha was sure he'd be able to see all the way to Wayne Manor. He turned away from the west and gazed as far east as he could with the limited perspective the small balcony gave him. Closer to the Fingers river the sky had already turned a dark shade of indigo. The sky really was blue! Not red, or yellow, or gray, or brown, but blue! Really blue! 

“Don't fall off the building, okay.” Daniel patted him on the shoulder. He didn't much feel like having to dave down and rescue the other boy if he did something stupid. 

He retreated back inside to where Terry had discarded his backpack. Looking up to make sure that Terry was still distracted by the sight of the clear and unobscured sky, Daniel opened the pack and pulled out the other boy's computer and cell phone. Retreating into his own room of the suit, he retrieved a pair of small bugs -one designed to give him an easy backdoor past firewalls, the other a simple tacker- and a tool kit. He had to work fast, he didn't know how long Terry would stay distracted. An unobstructed view of the sky seemed so mundane to Daniel. But then, he'd lived his whole life in a city where they sky was almost always clear, and on the off chance that it wasn't- well, three members of his family could fly and were all strong enough to lift him if he wanted to too. 

Daniel placed the backdoor in Terry's computer, and the tracker in his phone. That should make it easier to keep tabs on him. That done, he returned to the living room and replaced the computer and phone back in the pack exactly as he'd found them. Grabbed some snacks from the mini-bar, and two cans of Zesti before returning to the balcony and giving Terry the snacks he promised.


End file.
